April 22, 2012 - Earth Day: A day without wireless
Wireless devices damage the environment in many different ways.
Wireless devices are energy hogs. For instance, it takes three times as much energy to make a simple phone call on a cellphone compared to a landline (http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2009/06/embodied-energy-of-digital-technology.html#more). Wireless internet access requires far more energy than fiber optic internet access. Fiber optic internet access to the premises is the state-of-the-art gold standard in broadband. Used with hardwired modems, it is the most energy efficient, highest speed, highest capacity, and most reliable option for broadband. Furthermore, it is safe and secure.
Use of energy-wasting wireless devices, therefore, accelerates the environmental damage caused by mountaintop removal coal mining (http://ilovemountains.org/), tar sands oil extraction (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/canadian-oil-sands/kunzig-text), and fracking (http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/) because of their higher demand for electricity production.
As if this were not bad enough, the pulsed modulated microwave radiation utilized by wireless devices to communicate interferes with the navigational abilities of bees, birds, bats, and a variety of other creatures (http://www.hese-project.org/hese-uk/en/issues/nature.php?id=bees). One study linked nest proximity to cell phone antennas to significantly poorer reproductive success for white storks, including incomplete nest construction, absence of chicks, and increased chick death (http://www.livingplanet.be/Balmori_EBM_2005.pdf). Laboratory studies show it causes various developmental abnormalities and decreases fertility, suggesting other species likely experience decreased reproductive success (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19264463).
Microwave radiation from wireless devices has been implicated in the disappearance of house sparrows (http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/study-indicates-big-decline-in-house-sparrow-numbers-in-urban-areas-669631.html) and bees (http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/06/if-cell-phones-are-behind-the-bee-decline-what-are-they-doing-to-humans/58994/). The pulsed modulated microwave radiation from wireless transmitting antennas (base stations) is defoliating and killing trees (http://www.revistaecosistemas.net/index_frame.asp?pagina=http%3A/www.revistaecosistemas.net/articulo.asp%3FId%3D%2029%26Id%20Categoria%3D1%26tipo%3Dotros%20contenidos).
It’s not just the rest of the planet that regrets the human love affair with wireless. Many humans are experiencing health problems from exposure to the pulsed modulated microwave radiation utilized by cellphones, WiFi, baby monitors, and utility smart meters (a.k.a. AMR or transmitting meters) etc.
Many humans experience dizziness, heart arrhythmias, headaches, poor sleep, low energy, inability to concentrate, short-term memory problems, facial flushing and skin rash when exposed to radiation from wireless devices (http://www.magdahavas.com/?s=bradycardia) . These are just a few of the symptoms of radiofrequency sickness (http://www.electricalpollution.com). Radiofrequency sickness develops when people are over-exposed to radiofrequency radiation, which includes the pulsed modulated microwave radiation inherent in wireless devices.
Exposure to radiofrequency radiation has also been linked to an increased risk for cancer, including lymphoma, leukemia, brain tumor (cellphones), melanoma, parotid gland tumors, and breast cancer (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20693976). In fact, in spite of incredible industry pressure, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) recently classified radiofrequency radiation as a class 2B possible human carcinogen (http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2011/pdfs/pr208_E.pdf). Had the IARC panel been allowed to consider all the evidence, Dr. Franz Adlkofer, former executive director of the VERUM Foundation for Behavior and Environment stated that, “the classification likely would have changed from ‘possibly’ carcinogenic to ‘probably.’”, in an October 2011 presentation at the Harvard Law School (http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2011/11/18_safra-center-cellphone-radiation-corruption.html).
The use of wireless devices has increased markedly in recent years and so have the resultant radiation exposures. The pulsed modulated microwave signal utilized by wireless devices is extremely biologically active, intrinsically unnatural, and not regulated to prevent biological effects (http://www.emrpolicy.org/litigation/case_law/docs/noi_epa_response.pdf) These ubiquitous consumer devices have never been safety tested for animals or humans and no post-market surveillance is in place.
Show respect for the Earth. Take Earth Day to turn off your wireless devices to save energy and out of consideration for animals, plants, and fellow humans.
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