HAARP can’t cause heatwaves

We’ve spotted several posts on social media claiming that the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) research facility in Alaska is responsible for the recent heatwaves in the UK and Europe.

This isn’t true.

Posts shared on Facebook and Instagram claim that “the HAARP Weather Weapon [...is] what's made it crazy hot at the moment”, or question if it is a “coincidence” that there is a “heat dome over Europe” while “the HAARP antennas in Alaska are ‘quietly testing’ the ionosphere”.

But as we’ve explained many times before, HAARP cannot control or manipulate the weather.

HAARP is operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and is a high-frequency transmitter that studies the Earth's upper atmosphere by sending radio waves to create small, observable electron disturbances that mimic those that occur in nature.

An FAQ page on HAARP’s website explains that “the radio waves in the frequency ranges that HAARP transmits are not absorbed in either the troposphere or the stratosphere—the two levels of the atmosphere that produce Earth’s weather. Since there is no interaction, there is no way to control the weather.”

Independent expert Dr Ciaran Beggan at the British Geological Survey also told us that: “The HAARP instrument can only radiate a tiny amount of energy (around 3.6 MW…) into the thin upper atmosphere at 100 km altitude. That’s less power than a large wind turbine (5MW) can produce turning in the breeze. It’s physically impossible to affect global temperatures in this manner. Vastly more energy comes off a volcano or an AI datacentre or when there’s a geomagnetic storm, for example.”

The UK has experienced three heatwaves so far this year. A “heat dome” occurs when a large area of high pressure gets "stuck" over a region such as Europe, trapping warm air underneath.

Misinformation about significant weather events and natural disasters often spreads quickly on social media, so it’s important to consider whether what you are seeing is genuine before sharing. Our toolkit provides guides on how to verify pictures and videos.