W.E.E.P. News
4 March 2011
Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News
Waiting for the big one
http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/space/waiting-for-the-big-one-1.1035319
REUTERS
A massive solar eruption, more than 30 times the length of Earth's diameter, blasted away from the Sun on July 1, 2002, and a satellite captured graphic images of the event.
London - Havoc wreaked by a solar storm – such as the one that occurred last month – could be equivalent to a "global hurricane Katrina" that would cost up to $2 trillion in damage to communications satellites, electric power grids and GPS navigation systems, scientists said.
Last month's solar flare was the biggest for four years and ejected billions of tons of matter travelling at a million miles an hour towards Earth.
When it hit our magnetic field it generated magnetic storms and power surges, which disrupted communications and grounded flights.
Senior government advisers have warned that the world has never been more vulnerable to the effects of such an event, which buffets the complex and delicate electronic technology that controls almost all aspects of modern society.
An increasing reliance on electronic equipment, such as GPS satellite navigation and the computers controlling smart grids for electricity distribution, has meant that solar storms can produce unprecedented damage on a global scale, they said.
Professor Sir John Beddington, the British government's chief scientific adviser, said that the growth in the use of complex electronic machinery over the past 10 years has made society far more susceptible to catastrophic disruption than a decade ago, when the last solaractivity cycle reached its peak.
"Space weather has to be taken seriously. We've had a relatively quiet period of space weather and we expect that quiet period to end," Sir John told the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington.
"At the same time, over that period the potential vulnerability of our systems has increased dramatically, whether it is the smart grid in our electricity system or the ubiquitous use of GPS systems."
The approximately 11-year solar cycle is emerging from one of its quietest periods in 50 years and is expected to reach a solar maximum in 2013, when the number of solar flares on the sun, which generate electromagnetic storms, reaches a peak.
"(Last month's) event was the strongest solar flare in four years and as a consequence airlines re-routed flights away from polar regions in anticipation of the possibility that their radio communications would not be operable," said Jane Lubchenco, the head of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
"In addition to that, communications problems were reported on flights from Hawaii to southern California, and the flare disrupted communications in parts of the western Pacific region and Asia.
"Clearly this is something we need to take seriously. That particular event was not a very serious one, but as we enter a period of higher solar activity it is reasonable to expect more and more events, and they may vary in magnitude," she said.
"This is an area that we're beginning to pay much more attention to, not only because we are entering a solar maximum, but because so much more of our technology is vulnerable than was the case even 10 years ago, when we had the last solar maximum."
Thomas Bogdan, director of the Space Weather Prediction Centre in Boulder, Colorado, said GPS systems are highly vulnerable to the massive bursts of electromagnetic radiation from the sun, which energise the charged particles of the Earth's ionosphere.
"That ionosphere sits between us and the GPS satellites and the thicker that ionosphere, the longer the time delay between the GPS satellite and when you pick it up," Dr Bogdan said.
"In the worst-case situation, on the day-lit side of the Earth, we could see the loss of GPS not only for navigation, but for its critical timing capability used in business transactions."
About 10 or 20 hours after the initial blast of electromagnetic radiation, a second burst of high-energy charged particles will hit the Earth.
These have the ability to induce dangerous electric currents in power lines and oil pipelines, Dr Bogdan said.
A 14-year-old early-warning satellite is the only way of directly detecting the potential magnitude of the danger this wave of charge particles within a solar storm poses to pipelines and electronic systems on Earth, he said.
"Any storm coming from the sun has to pass over that spacecraft before it hits Earth. If it takes 20 hours to go from the sun to Earth, it's going to take about 20 minutes to go from that spacecraft to Earth. So, our last warning is a 20-minute warning, which will tell us how big, how strong, how nasty that storm might be," he told the meeting.
"The trouble is, it's 14 years old and what keeps me awake at night is worrying about whether that satellite would be running next morning when I get up.
"There are two things we need to be thinking about. We need to think about prediction – the ability to categorise and give warning about when particular types of space weather is likely to occur.
"The second is about engineering. Thinking about particular sectors and their vulnerability to particular types of space weather – that is a complicated issue and we need to think hard about how to do that," he said.
"What is absolutely critical is that we do have to take space weather seriously. This is an international issue and it is international collaboration that is how we are going to deal with it." – The Independent
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Increased Risk in Malignant Brain Tumors
February 18,2010. Another study by Hardell's group documents an increased risk in malignant brain tumors. Their sample size consisted of 1,251 cases and 2,438 controls. The highest risk was documented for astrocytomas, a common type of glioma. Image on right shows an astrocytoma at 3 o'clock. Authors report an increased risk for brain tumors of 170% with cell phone use and 80% with cordless phone use after 10-years. In a separate analysis the highest risk for astrocytomas was among those who began using mobile phones before the age of 20. For this group the risk increased by 390% for cell phones and 290% for cordless phones. The risk for gliomas and mobile phone use increased with latency time and cumulative hours of use, which suggests a dose-response relation that is apart of the Bradford-Hill criteria for causation.The results of this study do not bode well for the young generation of cell phone users. Unfortunately, this radiation permates our society and those who use a cell phone are contributing to second-hand radiation such that anyone near cell phone antennas is also exposed to this radiation.
To read more visit: http://www.magdahavas.com/2011/03/03/cell-phone-study-warning/
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50 minutes of cell phone radiation
March 3, 2011. The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is considered one of the most influential publication used by the health industries to disseminate information to doctors. Many years ago, it had been used to advertise that cigarets were safe. Pictures of doctors where shown smoking and they often endorsed certain brands.
So when doctors read about a National Institutes of Health cell phone study in that journal that shows 50 minutes of cell phone radiation increases metabolic activity in the brain - it's a big red flag and an unlucky strike against the wireless industry.
Click HERE to read the study http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/305/8/808.short
Neither Health Canada nor the wireless industry scientists can provide the disinformation that "non-thermal, non-ionizing microwave radiation has nobiological effect on the human body"! Instead, they now say "there are no health effects", which is equally false (see study on brain tumors and mobile phones).
When a patient asks their doctor, "Doctor, is safe to use my cell phone? Can I give one to my child?" The doctor now has a green light to say," Well, I just read a study in a very prestigious medical journal that shows cell phones do affect the brain. We don't yet know if this effect is harmful or not, so, until we do, I suggest that you use a cell phone with caution as something that could be dangerous. And I certainly would encourage young people to avoid cell phones except for emergencies."
To read more visit: http://www.magdahavas.com/2011/03/03/cell-phones-affect-brain-what-about-cell-towers/
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Two more MP's believe in the precautionary principle and raise concerns about phone masts in UK Parliament this week, see details below.
Edward Timpson (Crewe and Nantwich, Conservative)
In both Nantwich and Crewe, and in the surrounding rural areas, many people feel strongly that the current planning system is not on their side, particularly when it comes to wind turbines, mobile phone masts and overdevelopment. Can my right hon. Friend tell me what the Government are doing to improve the situation?- Link to this
- Hansard source (Citation: HC Deb, 1 March 2011, c152)
Add an annotation (e.g. more info, blog post or wikipedia article)
Nicholas Clegg (Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council; Sheffield , Hallam, Liberal Democrat)
The basic principle is that we want people to feel that they have a stake in the planning system rather than feeling that things are being done to them. That is why, in the Localism Bill and in further measures that we wish to take, we are introducing new powers enabling local communities and neighbourhoods to determine for themselves what kind of decisions they want to be pursued in their areas, if necessary by triggering local referendums. For too long planning has been obscure, difficult to understand, very technocratic and highly over-centralised, and that is what we will be trying to change in the coming years.http://www.markhunter.org.uk/en/article/2011/456437/local-lib-dems-oppose-mobile-mast-plans-in-bramhall
LOCAL LIB DEMS OPPOSE MOBILE MAST PLANS IN BRAMHALL
Neville Road Infant School
March 1, 2011 3:07 PM
Local MP Mark Hunter has joined forces with Bramhall Councillor Helen Foster-Grime in a campaign against the plans to build a mobile phone mast on
North Park Road, Bramhall. The proposed mast would be located in a densely populated residential area less than 200 metres from Mr Hunter has written both to the Head of Planning Services in Stockport and the company planning to build the mast to highlight residents concern at the potential danger of operating a mobile phone mast site so close to peoples' homes.
In 2000 a Government report from the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (IEGMP) stated that the potential risk of mobile phone mast radiation would be greater for children and that therefore masts should be built away from schools and heavily populated areas wherever possible.
Commenting, Mark said:
"It is simply unacceptable to build a mobile phone mast in this location.
"In this day and age where nearly everybody has a mobile phone, masts are clearly necessary and have to go somewhere but in my view they should always be sited away from schools, homes, and shops wherever possible.
"I have long been a supporter of the 'precautionary principle' and it seems to me sensible to avoid locating telephone masts in heavily populated areas, and particularly to avoid siting them near schools where there will obviously be many young children present.
"Helen Foster-Grime has long been an ardent campaigner against phone masts being put up in inappropriate locations and I will be working alongside her to encourage this company to think again."
Kind regards,
Scotland
Professor Colin Blakemore, a leading neuroscientist and president of charity Brain TumourUK
This is largely to do with the aging population. He said many brain tumours currently go undiagnosed and GPs need more training and hospitals need more scanners to ensure tumours are detected earlier.
Professor Roy Rampling, professor emeritus in neuro-oncology atGlasgow University
He said: "We would expect between 300 and 500 new primary brain tumours each year. We have reason to believe that the actual number is considerably higher than this."
Mr Rampling said many cases are not recorded because patients in poor condition may not be operated on, others are labelled simply as having cancer and not a primary brain tumour, while others – particularly the elderly – may be mis-diagnosed as having a stroke or dementia.
Eileen O'Connor
Director , EM Radiation Research Trust http://www.radiationresearch.org/
Board member - International EMF Alliance
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Hospital offers rooms for patients with electrical & chemical accommodations
This is very important information and I hope that you will challenge your own local hospitals to provide similar facilities. Many hospitals have installed Wi Fi systems throughout the hospital, making them very dangerous places to be. It is much better to start the EMF radiation dialog now, rather than when you may need a hospital in an emergency.
Martin
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Patterson calls for suspension of Smart Meters
March 1, 2011
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City of Monterey Demands PG&E Halt SmartMeters
Posted: Mar 02, 2011
MONTEREY, Calif. - On Tuesday night, the City of Monterey unanimously adopted a resolution to try and stop PG&E from installing SmartMeters.
City Council members passed the resolution, after hearing concerns from the community. People who live in Monterey said SmartMeters discloses private detailed information and pose potential health risks.
Council members said the lack of an "opt out" measure was unacceptable. The power company has repeatedly said the device is safe
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Brain tumour rise predicted
3 Mar 2011
A MASSIVE increase in the number of patients suffering brain tumours is predicted in Professor Colin Blakemore, a leading neuroscientist and president of charity Brain Tumour
This is largely to do with the aging population. He said many brain tumours currently go undiagnosed and GPs need more training and hospitals need more scanners to ensure tumours are detected earlier.
Professor Roy Rampling, professor emeritus in neuro-oncology at
He said: "We would expect between 300 and 500 new primary brain tumours each year. We have reason to believe that the actual number is considerably higher than this."
Mr Rampling said many cases are not recorded because patients in poor condition may not be operated on, others are labelled simply as having cancer and not a primary brain tumour, while others – particularly the elderly – may be mis-diagnosed as having a stroke or dementia.
