Re: [WSMDiscuss] Transforming the WSF (Rita Freire)
Jai Sen
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
World Social Forum in movement…, Climate in movement…, Social media in movement…
[The exchange on this thread [so far on WSMDiscuss] has been on the World Social Forum itself, and its possible future. But there’s an underlying aspect of what Rita (Freire) has proposed in relation to its future that all of us – and perhaps especially those associated with the organisation and renewal of something like the World Social Forum, with its resonant values about caring for Mother Earth – need to keep in mind : That in our wish to renew using the latest technologies available to us, which are undeniably ‘marvellous’ at many levels and where social media, as we all know, have also hugely empowered movements, we do not uncritically and innocently fall into the laps of a corporate high tech prelude to pushing 5G for global communications … as ‘the new way to go’…. Which the drive for 5G definitely is. In short, ‘we’ – all of us in our daily consumption, but especially signalling those who are involved in steering and shepherding major initiatives for social and environmental justice – need to first make ourselves critically aware of just what 5G is, involves, and implies… and decide on where we stand.
[Here, both attached as a leaflet authored by the Environmental Health Trust – which has active links for further information - and also with the text of the leaflet pasted on here below, is an urgent appeal for a critical awareness of this vital question for the future :
Climate Change, 5G & the Internet of Things
Massive Increases in 5G Equipment = Massive Increases in Energy Use
Environmental Health Trust
“The digital transition as it is currently implemented participates to global warming more than it helps preventing it. The need for action is therefore urgent.”
- The Shift Project Report on the Environmental Impact of Information and Communication Technologies, 2019
Climate Change, 5G & the Internet of Things
Massive Increases in 5G Equipment = Massive Increases in Energy Use
Big Tech is Pushing 5G
5G requires millions of new cellular antennas called “small cells” (basically shorter cell towers) to be built in neighborhoods directly in front of our homes. These 5G antennas are to connect with billions of new wirelessly connected “smart” devices referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT). Researchers are warning us that the energy consumption of 5G and the IoT is projected to skyrocket.
5G is NOT Sustainable
The demand for technology is outstripping the increase in efficiency. The energy consumption will rise sharply due to the ever increasing IoT energy demands at every stage of the lifecycle of 5G equipment, from device manufacture to data centers to data transmissions, and networks.
5G is an Energy Hog
“A lurking threat behind the promise of 5G delivering up to 1,000 times as much data as today’s networks is that 5G could also consume up to 1,000 times as much energy.”
— IEEE Spectrum, 5G’s Waveform Is a Battery Vampire
We must consider the environmental footprint of the digital ecosystem.
“Behind each byte we have mining and metal processing, oil extraction and petrochemicals, manufacturing and intermediate transports, public works (to bury the cables) and power generation with coal and gas. As a result, the carbon footprint of the global digital system is already 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and its energy consumption rises by 9% per year.”
— Jean-Marc Jancovici, President of The Shift Project, member of the French High Climate Council
70.2 million
“small cell” tower bases to be installed by 2025
500 billion
devices are expected to be connected to the Internet by 2030
8.9 billion
mobile phone subscriptions worldwide by 2024
60% increase
per year in production of wireless peripherals (Wi-Fi/Bluetooth speakers, appliances, wearables)
700%
increase in mobile data traffic globally projected between 2017 and 2022
The digital version of this document is hyperlinked to online sources for more information.
View all sources at EHT’s Climate Change webpage ehtrust.org/climate-change-and-5g
5G was not premarket safety tested. Fact sources also at EHTrust.org ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH TRUST
P2 :
“Smart” is Not Smart.
The push for all things wireless is the wrong direction.
5G Harms Bees, Trees and Birds
• Research finds bees and pollinators absorb between 3% to 370% more of the higher frequencies of 5G, leading the scientists to warn, “This could lead to changes in insect behaviour, physiology, and morphology over time….”
• Research finds wireless frequencies interfere with birds’ navigation systems and circadian rhythms, and can harm their development and reproduction.
• Research finds trees can be harmed by the standard radiation emissions from antenna equipment. Effects include altered growth, thinner cell walls and adverse biochemical changes.
Damage to the Tree Canopy
• Trees play a vital role in mitigating climate change, sequestering millions of tons of carbon that would otherwise pollute our climate. The installation of 5G equipment often requires heavy pruning and digging. This will obviously damage the canopy and root system of our trees.
“Wireless devices, antenna networks and data centers are consuming an ever-increasing portion of the global energy supply, based largely on coal…”
— “Re-Inventing Wires: The Future of Landlines and Networks”
“Our energy calculations show that by 2015, wireless cloud will consume up to 43 TWh, compared to only 9.2 TWh in 2012, an increase of 460%. This is an increase in carbon footprint from 6 megatonnes of CO2 in 2012 to up to 30 megatonnes of CO2 in 2015, the equivalent of adding 4.9 million cars to the roads. Up to 90% of this consumption is attributable to wireless access network technologies, data centres account for only 9%...
...wireless access networks are clearly the biggest and most inefficient consumer of energy in the cloud environment.”
— The Centre for Energy Efficient Telecommunications, 2013
Solutions for fast, safe and secure internet connections do exist.
A national wireline system can guarantee a superior foundation of Internet access for everyone, unequalled connectivity speed, safety, privacy, security, energy efficiency and long-term sustainability.
Referenced Reports
Engels, Svenja, et al. “Anthropogenic electromagnetic noise disrupts magnetic compass orientation in a migratory bird.” Nature, 2014
Thielens et al., “Exposure of Insects to Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields from 2 to 120 GHz” Scientific Reports, 2018
Waldmann-Selsam, C., et al. “Radiofrequency radiation injures trees around mobile phone base stations.” Science of the Total Environment, 2016
The Shift Project, “Lean ICT: Towards Digital Sobriety: Report on the Environmental Impact of Information and Communication Technologies,” February 2019
Andrae & Edler of Huawei Technologies, “On Global Electricity Usage of Communication Technology: Trends to 2030,” Challenges 2015
Vertiv, “Telco Industry Hopes and Fears from Energy Costs to Edge Computing Transformation,” 2019
Timothy Schoechle, “Re-Inventing Wires: The Future of Landlines and Networks,” National Institute for Science, Law & Public Policy, May 2018
Baliga et al. of the University of Melbourne, “Energy Consumption in Wired and Wireless Access Networks,” IEEE Communications, June 2011
Morley et al., Lancaster University, “Digitalisation, energy and data demand: The impact of Internet traffic on overall and peak electricity consumption,” Energy Research and Social Science, 2018
The Centre for Energy Efficient Telecommunications at the University of Melbourne, “The Power of Wireless Cloud,” 2013
Shehabi et al., “United States Data Center Energy Usage Report,” Berkeley Laboratory, 2016
The digital version of this document is hyperlinked to online sources for more information.
View all sources at EHT’s Climate Change webpage ehtrust.org/climate-change-and-5g
att
Environmental Health Trust, nd, c.2019 – ‘Climate Change, 5G, & the Internet of Things’. Leaflet 300120