A theory is circulating on the internet that states that offshore wind farms are responsible for changes in microclimate inland. However, there is no actual, scientific research that confirms this theory.
The theory suggests that "intensive rain showers", "severe climate change" or even "catastrophic tidal waves" could all be direct consequences of the installation of offshore wind farms in European waters.
A message on Twitter, which has been viewed over least 90,000 times and shared at least 600 times, suggests the upward movement of the rotor blades can cause the colder and moist layers of air closer to the ground to be mixed with warmer upper layers. The moist layer of air becomes higher before being blown inland to become precipitation there.
"The atmospheric conditions required to generate clouds by wind turbines are very rare," oceanographer and meteorologist Stephan de Roode from TU Delft was quoted as saying by RTBF.
Frank Deboosere, a meteorologist at Belgium’s Royal Meteorological Institute, echoed de Roode’s comments when he told RTBF that it is almost impossible to link domestic rain showers to offshore wind farms. "That's like the stroke of a butterfly wing can cause a hurricane," he said. "The effect of offshore wind turbines on inland weather is negligible. The theory is mainly spread by people who are resolutely against wind energy."
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Researchers from the universities of Utrecht and Wageningen even came to the opposite conclusion. They state that showers mainly occur in the microclimate around wind farms and that the coastal areas behind them receive less rain as a result. In other words, offshore wind farms can cause rain but that the rainfall is very local.
While the claims on social media have mostly been proved wrong, there is still no clear picture of what exact effects larger wind farms may have on our climate and the environment.
The most common concerns revolve around the effect they have on bird life in the air and marine life affected by the construction of offshore turbines. Several studies suggest that much more research on the consequences of large-scale wind energy is needed.
