Social media is inundated with conspiracy theories ranging from Qanon to flat earth. The newest conspiracy theory taking the internet by storm involves 5G. Apparently, people seem to think that 5G is the real cause behind covid-19. This is not true, not even a little bit.
CoVid-19 is the disease caused by the virus SARS-COV-2. It’s the reason we are all stuck in our homes. Which we should be doing, please STAY INSIDE as much as feasibly possible! Not only have we identified the virus behind CoVid-19, we have literally taken a picture of the damn thing. We’ve also been able to trace back its origins and, contrary to what some people believe, it did not lead scientist back to 5G cell towers. Surprise!
Unfortunately, conspiracy theorist have not been swayed by the science. They have even resorted to destroying cell towers across Europe.
‘’We have experienced cases of vandals setting fire to mobile masts, disrupting critical infrastructure and spreading false information suggesting a connection between 5G and the COVID-19 pandemic.’’
MobileUK, the industry group that unites the UK’s four main mobile networks, published an open letter to customers asking for help to stop the vandalism.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/06/at-least-20-uk-phone-masts-vandalised-over-false-5g-coronavirus-claims#maincontent
CoVid-19 aside, there are others who believe that 5G could be dangerous to our health in a different way. There are people with concerns about 5G potentially causing cancer. Fortunately, the science doesn’t support this narrative. The radio waves composing 5G signals are part of the non-ionizing spectrum. Which means that it lacks the energy to damage or destroy DNA molecules. Visible light is more likely to hurt you than the 5G radio waves being emitted by cell towers.
Then there are also people who aledge some sort of allergy or sensitivity to electromagnetism. This is known electromagnetic sensitivity, or EHS for short. While the symptoms these people are experiencing are real they could have psychological roots. Studies have suggested that these symptoms are psychosomatic or maybe even fictitious.
Unfortunately there is a potential problem with 5G. Weather forecasting is possible due to the ability of water vapor to absorb microwave bands at about 23.8 GHz. This leaves a faint signal that satellites equipped with proper equipment are able to read. Some of the proposed 5G microwave spectrum is dangerously close to the water vapor bands. This has the potential to cause bleeding of signals. Which would be terrible news for our ability to forecast weather. Degrading our ability to forecast accurately by 30 percent.
Weather forecasting is more important than ever before, thanks to our rapidly changing climate. This problem has not only been identified by NASA but also by NOAA and even the the Navy. All of them voicing similar concerns.
While not all the concerns about 5G are legitimate some undoubtedly hold water and should be heard. How we traverse these issues over the next couple years will certainly be interesting. The one thing we know for sure is that 5G does not, and will not, cause CoVid-19.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969711012733
https://www.who.int/peh-emf/publications/facts/fs296/en/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/11/will-5g-wreck-out-weather-forecasts/
The Science Pigeon 