So-called 'chemtrails' are often described as evidence of aerosol spraying of anthropogenic toxic substances on a mass scale from high altitudes as part of a government plot to poison the population.¹ This is claimed in spite of the fact that far simpler and more efficient means of delivering toxic substances to masses of people have long existed (and been applied), such as the fluoridation of 'drinking' water,² the genetic manipulation of the food supply³ and the nuclear explosions conducted around our planet⁴, just to name a few.

It should also be pointed out that high-altitude spraying is an extremely inaccurate delivery method. Permanent winds at this altitude (about seven miles up) can reach hundreds of miles per hour and aerosols can take up to two years⁵ to reach Earth's surface.⁶ So, when you spray from airliner cruising altitude, you can't know where and when the released aerosols will land, and you might actually end up spraying yourself.

That being said, there is evidence that the ruling elites in various countries have, indeed, conducted aerial spraying of toxic substances, but these were low-altitude spraying that allowed greater control over where and when the agent would reach the ground. For example, the CIA sprayed infectious agents over Cuba:

Fort Detrick SO [Special Operations] Division microbiologists assisted in several covert attacks against rural and agricultural areas in Cuba. These attacks involved aerial spraying with swine flu virus, dengue, and other lethal infectious agents. As a result, hundreds of farm animals and several humans died.⁷

High-altitude spraying has also been tested by releasing sulfur dioxide and other aerosols for the purpose of cloud-seeding⁸, but this doesn't require control over the time and location of the landing and has been shown to be generally ineffective.

Another factor that makes the 'chemtrails' theory iffy at best is the 'evidence' collected by proponents of the theory. They point to high levels of aluminum, barium and strontium found in ground and water samples.

Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust. Every year about 100 million tons of aluminum is produced.⁹ It is extensively used in the car industry, plane industry, boat industry, building industry, etc. From this perspective, it's not surprising to find high levels of aluminum in most if not all ground and water samples. Such levels do not imply that this aluminum comes from jet spraying.

Barium¹⁰ is found in nature as a free element.¹¹ It is used for numerous industrial applications: glassmaking,¹² fluorescent lamps, and screens.¹³ Barium is also used as an 'atmospheric aerosol spray for enhancing/refracting the signaling of radio/radar waves along military jet flight paths, missile test ranges.'¹⁴ So toxicology results indicating high levels of barium in some water sources near barium production and usage sites are hardly surprising.

Finally, strontium is a natural element, the 15th most common element on Earth. It is also massively produced (about 300,000 tons a year¹⁵) and used in screens for TVs, computers and phones. In addition, one radioactive isotope of strontium, called strontium 90, is present in radioactive fallout. Since 1945, 2,051 nuclear explosions have occurred on planet Earth.¹⁶ Many of these explosions happened in the atmosphere and were conducted in places as far apart as the Pacific Islands, China, the US, Algeria, Australia, Russia and Kazakhstan. Thus it is not surprising to find high levels of strontium (radioactive or not) all over the planet.

In short, there are numerous industrial sources of the elements claimed to be evidence of 'chemtrail spraying of populations.'

Contrails have been observed since WWI, when bombers managed to reach high enough altitudes for cold air to allow contrails to form.¹⁷ The phenomenon was so obvious that bomber pilots complained that contrails were giving away their position.¹⁸ Chemtrailers claim that 'chemtrails' are thicker and longer lasting compared to contrails. So, basically the only valid piece of evidence brought by 'chemtrailers' is the fact that jet planes did not previously leave any persistent and thick condensation trails behind them and now they do. This observation is in fact valid. Indeed, around the end of the 1990s, something changed and thicker contrails started being observed more frequently. Incidentally, the term 'chemtrails' was first introduced by journalist William Thomas in 1997.¹⁹

A condensation trail, or contrail, is the result of the condensation of jet fumes. Here, unlike noctilucent clouds, atmospheric dust doesn't play a major role since jet engines already release massive quantities of particles,²⁰ particularly sulfur molecules²¹ that are some of the most efficient condensation nuclei.²²

However, temperature plays a major role. The cooler the ambient air, the stronger and longer lasting the condensation. The cruising altitude for an airliner is about 10 km (7 mi), this is just below the stratosphere,²³ which has cooled down "by several degrees since 2002".²⁴

© Climate Change Blog adapted by sott.netTemperature of the stratosphere over the period 1948-2011. At the beginning of the century (green vertical line), the temperature of the stratosphere started to decrease.

Far from the conspiracy theory proposed by the 'chemtrailers', data strongly suggests that persistent contrails are a direct consequence of the cooling of the stratosphere, a far more troubling state of affairs than 'chemtrails' released in the upper atmosphere, where the high winds make it unlikely that anything released in a given location will filter to the ground anywhere near a 'targeted' location, or anytime soon.

[...]

By attributing the cause of these cosmically-induced events to humans, the elites maintain the illusion that they are, at least to some degree, in control; if they are causing it, then theoretically, at least, they could stop it.

'Chemtrails' can be stopped if enough people petition the world's governments to cease the 'sprayings', missile tests covering up for incoming comet fragments and meteor fireballs can be stopped if military budgets are reigned in, global warming can be reduced by controlling man-made greenhouse gas emissions, and global dimming will vanish if we stop polluting the atmosphere. The message behind all the chemtrails COINTELPRO is: 'man is in control and all is right with the world'.

Increased 'meteor smoke', cosmic rays, volcanic dust and cooling stratosphere are changing the chemical composition of the SKY, not the contrails coming out of jets.

However, contrails triggered by increased cometary activity, overhead cometary explosions, cosmically-induced weather disruptions and the accumulation of cometary dust in the atmosphere cannot be changed by the elites, even if just theoretically. The intimation that the cosmos is threatening the survival of humanity is a stress too intense to be borne by most people.

Even if 'chemtrails', global warming and missile tests are not actually stopped in practice, the very idea that they can be stopped is enough to invite people to continue supporting the illusion of control, wishfully thinking that all it will take is a public awareness campaign, new elections, political advocacy, protests, the scapegoating of 'guilty parties', etc. But it's all a lie, and if the public realizes this, the only place their stressed brains can go for relief is to think that 'the gods are angry' and, collectively, to try to find the real reason. Again and again throughout history, this has resulted in the masses coming to the conclusion that the 'gods' are angry because of the corruption and violence perpetrated by the elites in their efforts to get and maintain greater power.

1. Svensmark, H., Calder, N., The Chilling Star, p.76-77
2. Haigh, J D., 'Climate variability and the influence of the sun', Science, 2001, 294: 2109 - 2111
3. Steiger, B. & Steiger, S., Conspiracies and Secret Societies: The Complete Dossier, p.91-93
4. 'Fluorine Compounds Make you Stupid - Why is the Government not merely allowing, but promoting them?', Sott.net, 4 February 2008
5. Renter, E. 'Another Study Finds GMO Compounds in 100% of Pregnant Women and Fetuses', Activist Post, 27 October 2012
6. Since 1945, more than 2,000 nuclear explosions have been conducted. Their total yield is estimated to be approximately 510 megatons, equivalent to about 40,000 Hiroshima-size atomic bombs.
   See: 'General overview of the effects of nuclear testing', CTBTO
7. 'Atmospheric aerosols: what are they and why are they so important', NASA, August 1996
8. Fall speed can also be drastically reduced because of electromagnetic forces exerted on the particles. See chapter 26: 'Hurricanes, lightning and tornadoes'.
9. Albarelli, H.P., A Secret Order, p.13
10. Steiger, B. & Steiger, S., Conspiracies and Secret Societies: The Complete Dossier, p.105-107
11. 'List of countries by aluminium production', Wikipedia
12. 'Barium', Wikipedia
13. It makes up 0.0425% of Earth's crust.
14. Lide, D., (2004). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, p.4
15. Ullman, F., Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Wiley-VCH
16. Purdey, M., 'Chronic barium intoxication disrupts sulphated proteoglycan synthesis: a hypothesis for the origins of multiple sclerosis', Medical Hypotheses, 2004, 62(5):746-54
17. 'Strontium', Wikipedia
18. 'International Day Against Nuclear Tests: Translating Words Into Action', Arms Control Association, 2 September 2011
19. About 33,000 feet, the altitude at which airliners fly today.
20. Steiger, B. & Steiger, S., Conspiracies and Secret Societies: The Complete Dossier, p.98
21. Eden, D., 'Chemtrails, what's going on?', Viewzone, July 2013
22. 15,000 particles / cm³ vs. background concentration equal to 6-18 particles / cm³
    See: Fahey et al., 'Emission Measurements of the Concorde Supersonic Aircraft in the Lower Stratosphere', Science, 6 October 1995, Vol. 270 no. 5233 pp. 70-74
23. Panel on Atmospheric Effects of Aviation, Atmospheric Effects of Aviation: 'A Review of NASA's Subsonic Assessment Project', p. 14
24. Svensmark H. & Calder N., The Chilling Star, 2007, pp.126-131
25. The stratosphere covers the 20-50 km altitude range.
26. Laštovička J. et al., 'Global Change in the Upper Atmosphere', Science, 24 November 2006, Vol. 314 no. 5803 pp. 1253-1254

A team of climbers and scientists investigating the mountain's North Face said snowfields remained in many gullies and upper scree slopes.

On these fields, they have come across compacted, dense, ice hard snow call neve.

Neve is the first stage in the formation of glaciers, the team said.

The team has also encountered sheets of snow weighing hundreds of tonnes and tunnels and fissures known as bergschrunds.

The large, deep cracks in the ice are found at the top of glaciers.

The team of mountaineers, geologists and botanists is recording wildlife and rock forms on the North Face.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Midland Valley Exploration and the Nevis Partnership, an organisation based at Torlundy, near Fort William, are involved in the three-year project.

So far, many new populations of rare fauna such as highland saxifrage, tufted saxifrage and wavy meadow grass have been recorded.