5G – Safe or Deadly?
Apple’s extravaganza, Oct. 13, introduced five new iPhones, all with 5G capabilities. The show went into details about the phones, especially focusing on 5G, which would give cellular networks the speed of wi-fi. However, there was nary a mention of the 5G EMF (Electro-Magnetic Frequency) radiation concerns of millions of potential users. By avoiding this issue, Apple seems to put an enormous hole in CEO Tim Cook’s statement at the end of the program, “At Apple we put the user at the center of everything we do.”
The Left Coast is presenting the following exclusive article by Erica Snowlake on the 5G controversy: –Editor
By Erica Snowlake
A New Billion Dollar Industry – But At What Cost?
The Fifth Generation (5G) of cellular network technology is now being deployed, in big cities worldwide, and in most-frequented, tourist attractions (including national parks). So far, it is only available in 1% of the world, but, according to industry estimates, will cover 65% of the world's population by 2025.
Telecommunication corporations are counting on public demand, i.e. our increasing addiction to own the latest, fastest, data-downloading cellphones, in order to justify the necessary 5G infrastructure.
And what an infrastructure it is! It requires a pervasive, continuous grid of cell towers every 250 meters, emitting frequencies in the 30-300 gigahertz range (in stark contrast, 4G operates only up to a 6 gighertz range). The reason that cell tower density for 5G is so high is that it operates on a shorter, millimeter wavelength, requiring line-of-sight transmission.
Battle Lines Being Drawn
There is an ongoing culture war of Resistance to 5G. Cell towers are being set aflame by activists and concerned citizens. Mainstream media has largely taken the side of the Telecomm giants - Qualcomm, Samsung, Huawei, Verizon, AT&T, etc. - naysaying and downplaying 5G risks, touting scientific studies which uphold RF-EMF safety, and tactically utilizing "conspiracy-theory" smears to marginalize and ridicule opposition (for instance, the oft-cited, Facebook-generated, conspiracy-theory linking the Coronavirus to 5G).
New York City is currently in the forefront of 5G deployment installations. Streetlamp posts and traffic poles are being retro-fit with 5G antennas atop shrouds in all five boroughs. To allay the fears of its citizenry, The New York Times runs articles with conciliatory headlines, such as (July, 2019), "The 5G Health Hazard That Isn't - How one scientist and his inaccurate chart led to unwarranted fears of wireless technology."
Contrast that sentiment with The Scientific American's (October, 2019) op ed, "We Have No Reason to Believe 5G Is Safe." (Hilariously, two weeks later, SA retaliated itself with, "Don't Fall Prey to Scaremongering about 5G: Activists cite low-quality studies...")
Meanwhile, in the ongoing International EMF Scientist Appeal, to the European Union, more than 406 scientists and doctors from 40 countries warn about the danger of 5G, which will lead to a massive increase in involuntary exposure to electromagnetic radiation.
The Precautionary Principle says that if some course of action carries even a remote chance of irreparable damage to the ecology, then you shouldn't do it, no matter how great the possible advantages of the action may be. You are not allowed to balance costs against benefits when deciding what to do.
- Freeman Dyson, Report from the 2001 World Economic Forum
Buy a 5G Phone, Kill a Bee?
In 113 studies from original, peer-reviewed publications, RF-EMF (Radio Frequency-Electromagnetic Frequency) had a significant effect on birds, insects, other vertebrates, other organisms and plants in 70 per cent of the studies. Development and reproduction of birds and insects are the most strongly affected endpoints.
Wildlife biologist and former lead on telecommunication impacts, Dr. Albert Manville, testifies, "the entire thermal model and all FCC categorical exclusions for all the devices we see today, rests on the incorrect assumption that low-level, non-ionizing, non-thermal radiation cannot cause DNA breaks. The evidence to the contrary is clear and growing in both laboratory animals and wildlife."
A 2009 study by Andrew Goldsworthy, cites that electromagnetic pollution interference, specifically from cell towers, cell phones, and Wi-Fi, disrupts both solar and magnetic bee navigation and reduces their immunity to disease.
The recent decline in numbers of birds, bees, butterflies, and other insects is staggering, up to 60 per cent of their populations have been decimated, in some cases. It is so huge that scientists are at a loss to determine what factors might conclusively be involved. Yet, in light of this devastating portent for humanity, nothing prevents corporate entities "rolling out" new technologies, untested and stronger by far than anything we have already been using, to the increased detriment of the natural world.
Diverse countries, states and city councils around the world have banned 5G implementation until in-depth health impact studies are undertaken, including the state of Louisiana, Portland, Encinitas and Santa Barbara in California, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Slovenia, Papua New Guinea, and the Big Island of Hawai'i, plus hundreds of towns in Italy, Glastonbury UK, and Brussels, among many others. Interestingly, Russia refuses to transfer frequencies for 5G, delaying its roll-out for several years.
Is the opposition to 5G paranoid, or ahead of the game?
I have encountered various anomalies on the internet, including a recording of the erratic, static electricity sound produced by 5G cell towers, which are alleged to cause migraines, warnings about frequency interference with baby monitors and theories that EMF “heating,” contributes to global warming.
Paranoia strikes deep when it comes to EMF and 5G, up to and including interest in EMF radiation-shielding paint and Faraday canopies, which block radiation. EMF links to Parkinson's syndrome and sperm-infertility are topics of concern, as well as the alarming allegation that US Military Crowd Control Heating Weapons operate at 96 gigahertz (within the 5G spectrum), thus characterizing this new technology with the capabilities of a bio-weapon.
Will we be confronted with a future of smart grid-controlled, self-driving cars, robotic surgeries, augmented reality, smart buildings, always-on WiFi, and pervasive drone surveillance – all of which will function on the reliability of connectivity by which 5G purports to benefit humanity? Or will masses of people refuse to buy the latest 5G iPhone, or the 6G and 7G ones after that, without exhaustive testing for harmful effects of the radiation?
As inevitable as a profit-driven, death-cult of a future envisioned by the Purveyors of Corporate Empire seems to be, it will surely be met head-on by a Resistance of Dreamers of a Free Earth and healthy biome, thriving without tragic and wholly preventable technological consequences.
Erica Snowlake is an artist and a devourer of books, who takes her inspiration for this article from the library of Philip K. Dick.
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