Talk:Conspiracy theories about the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season/GA1

GA Review

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Nominator: Dan Leonard (talk · contribs) 20:57, 15 December 2024 (UTC)

Reviewer: It is a wonderful world (talk · contribs) 21:03, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Looking forward to getting severe brain rot reviewing this... It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Hi @Dan Leonard, I have begun my review below. You will notice I have made a lot of points about neutrality and vagueness, which seems to be a general issue with the article as a whole. Rather than failing based on these issues, I would like to give you the opportunity to address my points, and then fix the similar issues that recur through the rest of the article. Once you have done this, I will continue my review. It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:09, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Prose (Criteria 1a, 1b, 4) clock

Lead

The previously quiet 2024 Atlantic hurricane season began experiencing a surge in activity in late September. With Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, two extremely damaging and deadly major hurricanes, impacting the United States in just two weeks, it led to heightened attention by the media and on social media.: I don't think this paragraph performs the function of a lead paragraph adequately. WP:LEADSENTENCE says "The first sentence should introduce the topic", but this first sentence begins with background information which does not introduce the specific topic at all. Neither does anything in the paragraph mention the specific topic. I think this information belongs in the "Background" section. I suggest changing the first sentence to something like "Late in the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, conspiracy theories spread about the nature of hurricanes Helene and Milton, and about the post-storm disaster recovery" It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

The contentious material in the lead should be cited, (WP:LEADCITE) ideally in the style of the lead citations in Marjorie Taylor Greene. The claims about Donald Trump definitely need a citation like this. It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Copied three references from the body into the lead for the three main living people mentioned. Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 21:35, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Looks good It is a wonderful world (talk) 02:34, 18 December 2024 (UTC)

Background

Hurricanes Helene and Milton surprised onlookers, breaking the lull and causing massive devastation: "surprised onlookers" and "massive devastation" are opinions. WP:NPOV says "avoid stating opinion as fact". These could be attributed, or replaced with facts such as "killed X amount of people, inflicted $$$$$ in damages". It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Updated to In late September and early October, Hurricanes Helene and Milton developed as Category 4 and 5 hurricanes, respectively, breaking this lull. Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 21:24, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Much better It is a wonderful world (talk) 02:30, 18 December 2024 (UTC)

caused exceptional flooding: NPOV It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Updated to remove the word exceptional. Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 21:24, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Link "Category 5" It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Updated to wikilink to Saffir–Simpson scale, albeit earlier in the paragraph than suggested here. Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 21:24, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Milton broke records: On a quick scan of the source I think it only mentions one record, not multiple. It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Updated to Milton broke the National Weather Service's record for rapid intensification. Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 21:25, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Overall, the number of storms: I'm not sure "overall" is a good word here. It implicates that a summary follows, but "the number of storms in late September and October broke records for activity in the later period of a hurricane season" isn't really a summary, and the paragraph was already summarised in the first sentence: "In late September and early October, Hurricanes Helene and Milton surprised onlookers, breaking the lull and causing massive devastation" It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Updated to merge with the sentence about cost: The season became the second costliest in history, with $190 billion in damages and breaking records for amount of storm activity in the later period of a hurricane season. Still a bit clunky, may revisit. Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 21:40, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Weather modification

Prominent right-wing conspiracy theorist: Needs a strong citation in the style mentioned earlier. It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Added citation to Southern Poverty Law Center entry on Jones. Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 21:51, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

"received threats" -> "claimed to have received": Neutrality It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Done. Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 22:11, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

have been popular for years: On a quick scan of the sources, it seems they do not support the idea that they have been "popular", only that they existed. It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Updated to have existed since at least 2012. Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 22:15, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Despite claims that: The word "claims" is so vague it could mean anything, from the position of a powerful political organisation to a few low interaction social media posts. Need to be more specific here. It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

the project is extremely low-powered: Opinion, attribute or be more specific with a fact It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:04, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Suggestions (not needed for GA promotion)

Add kph conversion to "90 mph" (template: convert)

and does not have the ability to control weather: Since the main conspiracy theory seems to hinge directly on this point, it would be good if some better sourcing could be provided for this.

Brief comment from Pbritti

Regarding scope, I was surprised to notice that the article neglected to mention the sole instance of politically motivated discrimination that has been alleged by authorities. I have added this material, but have to apologize as the specific way the harv citation format is being used here is something I'm not familiar with. I accept responsibility for standardizing those refs/citations, but my understanding is that non-standardized citations will not impede the review. Since I'm technically a contributor to the article, consider my praise of the prose here simply a kind statement rather than stepping on the toes of reviewer IIAWW. ~ Pbritti (talk) 22:27, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Hi @Pbritti I really appreciate this. I am not very knowledgeable about either hurricanes or conspiracy theories, so probably wouldn't have identified this. If you have any more scope concerns please do comment, and do not be concerned about "stepping on my toes"! It is a wonderful world (talk) 02:29, 18 December 2024 (UTC)

@It is a wonderful world: I am, sadly, personally familiar (if not scholarly knowledgeable) with both. Having read the article, that was the only scope issue that leapt out at me. Overall, you've picked a fascinating article to review and it has been well-treated by the hard work of the nominator! If you need a second pair of eyes, ping me. I'll make a comment here when I actually have a bit more time to commit to standardizing those citations (or finding a widget that'll do it for me). ~ Pbritti (talk) 05:05, 18 December 2024 (UTC)