ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS LARGELY IGNORED IN INSECT DECLINE RESEARCH

Guest blog by Camilla Scaramanga

Seventy-five percent of insects have been wiped out since 1989 (Hallman 2017) in tandem with the rise of wireless technologies, such as cell phones, cell towers and more recently WIFI and the Internet of Things. All available data suggests impending extinction of all insect species (Cardosa 2020, Wyckhuys 2019).  The main cause given for the decrease in insect populations is habitat loss due to intensive farming, followed by crop spray, which started in earnest after World War 2, forty four years before the surge of insect mortality.  While climate change and invasive species are also posited to contribute to insect decline (El-Shafie 2021), electromagnetic pollution is largely ignored by mainstream science and environmental groups.  However, radiation is a strong contender according to independent studies (Kumar and Sharma 2011, Sivani and Sudarsam 2012, Cucurachi 2013, Carpenter 1971). In one study comparing the impact on insects of agrochemicals to electromagnetic frequencies, the latter was found to be the most fatal, destroying three out of four hives. (Lupi 2021).

Birds and Insects are particularly vulnerable to electromagnetic fields which damage their reproductive capacity and disrupt their navigational acumen.  (Warnke 2008, Wiltschko 2015, Southern 1975, Goldsworthy 2009.   Magnetite, stored in the beaks of birds and in the abdomen of bees, help them to navigate. (Cucurachi 2013).  5G would be deadly to insects,  since they absorb far more radiation at mm wavelengths than earlier lower frequencies from 2G, 3G and 4G (Thielens, Bell 2018). This was demonstrated after installation of a cell tower in Idaho  in May, 2021 where an entire beehive population at the adjacent farm died within a month.

The earth’s electromagnetic field is being sifted by ever increasing levels of wireless technology, filling the air, earth and presently the sea. Many organisms, including insects, are reliant on the earth’s magnetic field for navigation and get disorientated by manmade frequencies, as explained by Warnke. 

‘All magnetic field sensitivity in living organisms, including elasmobranch fishes, is the result of a highly evolved, finely-tuned sensory system based on single-domain, ferro-magnetic crystals. Animals that depend on the natural electrical, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields for their orientation and navigation through earth’s atmosphere are confused by the much stronger and constantly changing artificial fields created by technology and fail to navigate back to their home environments.’

(Warnke 2007).

Of insects, this has particularly impacted bees (Theilens 2018; Warnke 2007; Kumar 2011), contributing to bee colony collapse disorder (Wellenstein 1973, Harst and Kuhn 2006, Sharma and Kumar 2010, Sahib 2011).  One study showed it severely disturbed the bee colony and set off the swarming process (Favre 2011). There was increased aggression and reduced aversive learning in exposed bees (Shepherd 2019).  Studies on fruit flies showed mobile phone radiation at 90Mhz decreases the reproductive capacity of insects up to 60% through DNA fragmentation and cell death. (Panagopoulos 2004, 2007).  Similar results were also found with microwave radiation at other frequencies (Bolshakov 2002, Atli and Unlu 2006).  Other studies evinced abnormal mutation in the mealworm beetle, causing severe deformities in irradiated insect pupae. (Carpenter 1971). 

Low level RFR sizeably influences the insect circadian clock. In one study it slowed down the cockroach rhythm under dim ultraviolet lights according with results on the Drosophila circadian clock.  “300x weaker RF fields also slowed down the cockroach clock in a near zero static magnetic field, demonstrating the internal clock of organism are sensitive to weak RF fields.” (Bartos 2019).  This confirms the findings of Leif Salford showing that weak electromagnetic fields are just as harmful.

In May 2020, a study was featured in the Times newspaper intriguingly entitled ‘Insects fall prey to diet of junk foods’.  Investigating why grasshopper populations fell by nearly 1/3 over 2 decades in the Konza Prairie, North Eastern Kansas, a study was carried out between 1996-2017 in undisturbed habitats and in 2002-2017 where bison grazed. (Welti et al 2020) The article reported that Kasper, leading the study, said “in many regions [of the world] the cause of decline was given to be insecticide use and habitat loss.”  Wireless radiation was not mentioned.  As there was no case of habitat loss or insecticide use in the Konza Prairie, they looked at the plants, and found greenhouse gas the main ingredient in the sugars, starches and cellulose of plants, making them less nutritious. Kasper therefore posited that the cause for insect decline could be depleted nitrogen, phosphorous, sodium, zinc and other nutrients in the plants due to rising CO2.  He suggested re-greening was redundant, as plants were so nutrient depleted.  However, the study ignored the fact that the area is also subjected to solar radiation.  Weather data is collected by a CR10 data logger accessed every 15 minutes via wireless internet, which monitors air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, wind speed and soil temperature. On assessing the evidence, it is vital to look at the funding source of studies. Measures advocated by mainstream science to stem the tide of extinction do not address what may be the principal cause of insect decline.  While a tiny fraction profit from wireless radiation, all pay for ignoring its impact on our fragile, finely tuned ecosystem.  The cast of progress needs revision if it bequeaths erasure.  The only real solution is the immediate withdrawal of 4-5G cell towers and mobile phones worldwide, as a matter of urgency.