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Are mobile phones killing off the bees?

Friday, August 01st, 2008 | Author: admin

A growing number of scientists are suggesting that the growth in the use of mobile phones could be a major contributory cause behind massive food shortages, as the world’s harvests fail. They are proposing the theory that the radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible explanation behind the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops.

As recently as last month, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon - which was first reported in the United States - was beginning to hit Britain as well.

The theory that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees’ navigation systems, preventing them from finding their way back to their hives was initially regarded as improbable - however some scientists now claim that there is evidence to back it up.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), as this outbreak is known, occurs when a hive’s inhabitants suddenly disappear, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature workers. The vanished bees are seldom ever found, but thought to die singly far from home. And, strangely, the parasites, wildlife and other bees that normally raid the honey and pollen left behind when a colony dies, refuse to go anywhere near the abandoned hives.

It is reported that CCD now affects half of all US states. The US West Coast is thought to have lost 60% of its commercial bee population, compared to an even more alarming 70% missing on the East Coast.

CCD has reportedly since spread to Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. And only last month one of London’s biggest bee-keepers, announced that 23 of his 40 hives have been abruptly abandoned! Furthermore, other apiarists have recorded losses in Scotland, Wales and north-west England. Yet despite the growing concern in Britain, the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) insists: “There is absolutely no evidence of CCD in the UK.”

The implications of the spread are alarming - not least because most of the world’s crops depend on pollination by bees. Indeed, Albert Einstein once famously said that if the bees disappeared, “man would have only four years of life left”!

Yet despite research no one knows for certain why it is happening. Various theories involving mites, pesticides, global warming and GM crops have been proposed, but all have drawbacks. Yet, interestingly, German research has long shown that bees’ behaviour changes near power lines. Now a study at Germany’s Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Dr Jochen Kuhn, who carried it out, said this could provide a “hint” to a possible cause.

Meanwhile the head of a massive study conducted by the US government and mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, is reported as saying: “I am convinced the possibility is real.”

Although it is clear that much more research is urgently needed, Land & People wonders what the reaction from both government and mobile phone manufacturers will be, should it be proven that the radiation from mobile phones and their supporting networks, are responsible for this catastrophic decline in bee numbers. Bees are expendable - mobile phone companies profits are not, will be the reaction, we suspect!

Category: Bees, Wildlife | Leave a Comment

GM - A measure of Government corruption

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 | Author: admin

One key fact about GM crops that needs to be firmly grasped is that they have not been manufactured with a prime objective of feeding the world. They are nothing more than a product in development that large international corporations want to make money from - a lot of money in fact! They plan to make their fortunes by marketing a GM monoculture crop with their own mix of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. The resultant seed is “owned” by them and sold by them, annually, with no seed saving.

 

In theory, you subscribe to your annual harvest from a global corporation in much the same way as you pay your licence. It is not local or sustainable - but it is potentially very profitable. And profit, of course, is what it is all about.

 

As one environmentalist recently wrote: “GM product development is simply a way to make a shed load of money from hungry people in far off countries.”

 

In it’s own way GM is no more a solution to a problem than is nuclear power. Both will leave a legacy that could blight mankind for thousands of years to come. Often the same corporations tried exactly the same scam in the pre-GM years with exclusive monocultures. It failed then (as did the crops) and caused poverty and famine - leaving the bio-tech corporations as the sole winners.

 

Common sense and good scientific practice suggests that you do not trial GM outside of a lab, as the potential “downside” could have devastating consequences for generations to come, not least from cross pollination.

 

Once, there was a total ban on GM material being released into the wild but unscrupulous government political parties, such as Labour here in Britain, can be guaranteed to put bio-tech corporate bribes ahead of public safety. Are we really to believe that those who hope to profit from GM have the best interests of humanity at heart? No,. of course not, they have the best interests of their shareholders to consider. Do they really understand the nature, extent and consequences of GM pollution? No. Like they didn’t understand tobacco, asbestos, radiation, lead in paint, DDT or all the poisonous chemicals they used to spray on food that is now banned. Remember thalidomide anyone?

 

Clearly GM material should exist outside of a laboratory except under the most restrictive of licenses for purposes where there is no realistic alternative. There are plenty of better alternatives to GM food that will feed the world but, of course, they’ll neither make GM product owning corporations rich or help fill Labour Party coffers.

 

If this Labour governments is stupid or corrupt enough to permit the growing of GM crops then they should also ensure that all derivative products are clearly labelled so as to be avoided. If ever there was a product that demonstrates how corrupt this government is (and their Tory predecessors), and how closely and unethically they snuggle up to big business, and how many difficulties scientists have with the wider ethical ramifications of their work, then this is it!

Category: Farming, Genetic Modification | Leave a Comment