Marco Silva is a climate misinformation expert.
Image source, EPAThe city has been hit by floods three times this year. Unfounded allegations of "weather manipulation" have spread widely on social media, despite scientists blaming intense rain on a combination of factors.
Parts of Australia's largest city were brought to a standstill by four days of rain.
Warmer oceans and saturated soils are contributing factors to the extreme weather, according to experts.
Conspiracy theorists don't think it's true. Cloud seeding and weather manipulation are blamed for the extreme rain.
Falsehoods can reach thousands of people online even though there is no evidence to back them up.
Cloud seeding is something that happens. It involves changing the clouds to make them produce more precipitation.
Small particles are fired into the sky. The water falls as precipitation.
The technique has been used for a long time. It has been used all over the world to help irrigate crops.
There isn't any evidence that cloud seeding has anything to do with the current rain. Some TikTok users are still upset about weather engineering.
Image source, TikTokIt's part of a government plan to weaponise the weather against its own people, a popular conspiracy theory that has been around for years.
"The idea that this is happening on a large scale and that there is a reason for it is a complete myth," says Dr. Gilbert, a climate scientist at the British Antarctic Survey.
This myth seems to have found a group of people. Many of the accounts seen by the BBC posting this type of content have also shared other conspiracy theories.
A 2016 news report from the Australian TV network 7 News has been viewed thousands of times by some conspiracy theorists.
The newsreader reported that residents in the region were concerned that the floods might have been caused by cloud seeding.
Independent scientists and experts have supported the conclusion that cloud seeding did not contribute to or make worse the heavy rains in the state.
Image source, Telegram"We don't have a co-ordinated effort to change the weather because it's just physically and financially unfeasible," says Dr Gilbert, who adds that even if cloud seeding played a role, it would have "an absolutely minuscule effect."
In the last few days, there has been no single cause for the heavy rain. Climate change and La Nia weather phenomena have made the flooding worse.
Strong winds blow the warm surface waters of the Pacific away from South America and towards Indonesia, which causes a La Nia. Cold water comes up to the surface.
La Nia increases the chance of rain in Australia.
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