It’s storm season and we all depend heavily on our radar and meteorologist to bring us the most accurate and detailed forecast. Well, the accuracy could be reduced by up to 30% thanks to the new 5G network.
We want speed and we want it now. 5G has arrived for your smart phone but experts and officials have warned that the interference from 5G wireless radios could seriously affect the ability to forecast weather. This includes when hail and tornados are heading your way and even extreme weather events like hurricanes.
Collecting data about current atmospheric conditions requires around 23.8 GHz of band. 5G requires 24GHz of band which is being sold off by the Federal Communications Commission since last year. Scientist are very concerned that this band is way too close and could cause the interference. If there are any 5G radios being used in the nearby band, they could interfere with the equipment used for weather forecasting.
The acting chief of National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA), testified to the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Environment about the damage that can be caused by 5G. There could be up to a 77% data loss from passive microwave sounders if 5G wireless readers where to interfere. The microwave sounder data is a critical dataset that has been used to predict many dangerous weather events. For example, Hurricane Sandy was predicted to remain out at Sea after not using microwave sounder data. Sandy actually came ashore in New Jersey and caused $70 billion worth of damage.
Without sounder data, the forecasts of NOAA would be reduced in accuracy by up to 30%. To give you an idea on how big a 30% decrease would be, this big of a reduction would put us back somewhere around 1980. In terms of practical impact, you would know that a hurricane was heading straight for you roughly two to three days later. Senators are now writing letters to the FCC urging them to stop licensing the use of 24GHz band until vital weather forecasting operations are protected. The path we are heading down could lead to dangerous impacts to American national security.