zaterdag 15 augustus 2020

Lake Erie’s Toxic Green Slime is Getting Worse

 

Lake Erie’s Toxic Green Slime is Getting Worse With Climate Change

Algal blooms are a hazard around the country. But Lake Erie is especially vulnerable to the scourge, and researchers are looking for explanations. 

Scum floats on the surface of Western Lake Erie on Sept. 20, 2017. Credit: NOAA

Scum floats on the surface of Western Lake Erie on Sept. 20, 2017. Credit: NOAA

CLEVELAND, Ohio—As the summer winds down, much of western Lake Erie stinks. Green goo—miles and miles of it—floats on the surface, emanating a smell like rotting fish as it decays. 

The scum isn't just unpleasant. It's dangerous.

Harmful algal blooms are a health hazard in all 50 states. But Lake Erie, the shallowest, and therefore the warmest, of the five Great Lakes, is uniquely vulnerable to algal blooms. Like most other water bodies suffering from blooms, the lake is overloaded with nutrients, forming the perfect breeding ground for a bacteria known to poison pets, contaminate drinking water and create oxygen-deprived "dead zones" that kill aquatic life.

 

The lake's immediate future looks grim: the blooms are worsening with climate change, and pose a threat to tourism and recreation. But research into the lake's gunky plight is flourishing, and the findings are relevant worldwide. The blue-green "algae" smothering Erie, Microcystis—which is not really algae but a kind of photosynthetic bacteria—abounds in lakes on every continent except Antarctica.

"Why is it such a good competitor? That's what we're hoping to learn," said Tim Davis, an associate professor of biological sciences at Bowling Green State University who has studied harmful algal blooms around the world. 

Toxic cyanobacteria, colloquially dubbed "toxic algae," burst into the spotlight in the United States in 2014, after a drinking water plant in Toledo, Ohio, found dangerous levels of toxins during a routine test, and the city declared the tap water undrinkable. Hundreds of thousands of people were left scrambling to find safe water until Toledo lifted the ban more than two days later.

Once the emergency passed, the question on everyone's minds was, "What do we need to do to make sure we're safe?" said Pete Bucher, who began working as a legislative aide for the state assembly district representing southern Toledo a month after the city's water crisis. Bucher is now the managing director of water policy at the Ohio Environmental Council.

Credit: NOAA

At the time, testing for cyanotoxins, including the toxin produced by Microcystis, was not required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That changed after Toledo.

The EPA introduced mandatory national monitoring for cyanotoxins in 2016 with the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule. The rule took effect in 2018, and is set to end this year. Drinking water facilities in affected parts of Lake Erie have also introduced costly but effective treatments, including oxidation, filtration using activated charcoal and the physical removal or filtration of toxin-laden Microcystis cells, that can be implemented as soon as toxins are detected.

If the safeguards in place today—more frequent satellite monitoring with higher resolution images; instruments that detect blooms at drinking water intakes; and better modeling of the blooms themselves—had existed during Toledo's 2014 bloom, the presence of the toxin would not have been a surprise, and "they would have been able to address it," said Rick Stumpf, an oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "It would not happen again."

Stumpf is part of a team of NOAA researchers that began using satellites to estimate bloom size in Lake Erie in 2009. After the Toledo water crisis, NOAA switched from publishing weekly bulletins on Erie's bloom using satellite imagery to releasing near-daily updates.

A Perfect Disaster

Lake Erie's biggest tributary, the Maumee River, flows into Erie's western basin, the shallowest part of the lake. More than 70 percent of the Maumee's watershed is used for agriculture, and rainfall washes nitrogen and phosphorus—the two key nutrients for algae growth—from fertilizer used on farmland into the Maumee. The nutrients in that runoff are transported directly to the lake. 

Rainfall and nutrient levels are the two main factors that influence bloom size. The release of nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture, the biggest source of nutrients entering Lake Erie, can be controlled. But heavier rainfall leads to increased nutrient loading from all sources, including natural ones, which is causing bigger blooms. Algae thrives in warmer water, and climate change is expected to bring warmer, wetter weather to the region, exacerbating existing factors.

"It's like the worst case scenario," said Laura Johnson, director of the National Center for Water Quality Research at Heidelberg University.

Researchers at Heidelberg have been studying nutrient loading in the Maumee River for decades. By comparing those records with NOAA's algal bloom estimates, they linked phosphorus levels in the Maumee to bloom size in Lake Erie, and developed a seasonal bloom forecast for the lake.

The NOAA satellite monitoring program evolved into a project called the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network, or CyAN, named for cyanobacteria's distinctive blue-green color and available as an app for Android. NOAA and other federal agencies now monitor for algal blooms in 2,000 U.S. lakes that could hold blooms big enough to be seen using satellite imagery, and they publicize bloom information from the lakes through the CyAN app. The agencies hope to support the development of local forecasting systems for the lakes they are currently monitoring, using the forecasting methods developed in Lake Erie.

But NOAA isn't done with Lake Erie. Some Microcystis blooms are more toxic than others, and Stumpf sees Erie as the key to developing a toxicity forecast that doesn't yet exist.

"We can't do everything with satellites," he said. "We can't measure toxicity, because toxins aren't pigments. They have no color." 

At present, tracking toxicity requires regular water sampling, something researchers at Bowling Green do on a weekly basis. Their data helps explain how blooms change seasonally, but less is understood about how toxicity fluctuates each day. That's where citizen scientists come in.

"We know that there's a lot of dynamics that we're missing on a day-to-day basis," Davis, the Bowling Green professor, said. "So what we're trying to do is, by incorporating citizen scientists, collect more data that will allow us to see some of these fine-scale trends in toxin concentrations, which will hopefully allow us to develop the toxin forecast model."

Bowling Green State University's Lake Erie Center for Fresh Waters and Human Health's research professors Tim Davis (left) and George Bullerjahn (center) along with BGSU student, Dan Peck (right) conduct water sampling on Sandusky Bay near Sandusky, Ohio,

Bowling Green State University's Lake Erie Center for Fresh Waters and Human Health’s research professors Tim Davis (left) and George Bullerjahn (center) along with BGSU student, Dan Peck (right) conduct water sampling on Sandusky Bay near Sandusky, Ohio, on July 23, 2020. Credit: Brad Phalin/BGSU

Bowling Green partnered with several other universities and NOAA to recruit people who already work on the lake every day, like beach managers and charter boat captains. The researchers have received millions ofdollars in state and federal grant money to support this and other algae research efforts. Standard toxin testing is complicated and takes hours to complete, but the citizen scientists will sample the water using newly-developed test cartridges that can measure toxicity in a fraction of the time.

Davis hopes that the simplified means of data collection will expand monitoring capabilities without overwhelming the citizen scientists. He plans to compare findings from Lake Erie to Microcystis found in Africa's Lake Victoria and other lakes around the world, through a National Science Foundation-funded project that aims to unlock the mystery of the organism's global dominance.

Despite Lake Erie's size—it spans nearly 10,000 square miles, four states and two countries—the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, signed by the United States and Canada in 1972 and updated in 2012, facilitates consistent monitoring across borders. 

The agreement has been effective, Davis said. Though every lake is different, he said, "a lot of people do look to what's going on in Lake Erie and the research coming out of the Lake Erie area in order to help guide them."

Blooming Through Time

Exposure to cyanotoxins can cause anything from sore throats, headaches and exhaustion to severe symptoms such as vomiting, pneumonia and liver damage, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Though it was previously thought that exposure could only occur through waterborne contact, recent findings indicate that airborne cyanotoxins may be able to travel more than a mile inland.

"When you go to the beach and you're sitting or recreating in a lake that has these algae toxins, you can come home with those kinds of symptoms that just last for a day or two," said Anne Weir Schechinger, senior analyst in economics at the Environmental Working Group. "There's also been some more research lately showing these longer-term impacts, like liver failure, and even some cancers that are starting to be associated with these toxins. But I would still say that health research is still early."

Even if scum is present on a lake's surface, it could be non-toxic. But the reverse can also be true. While avoiding potentially toxic scum altogether is the safest move, Schechinger cautioned against assuming that it's safe to swim in rivers, lakes or ponds that appear algae-free.

"You don't necessarily see a scummy bloom. That doesn't mean there's not (toxin) in the water," she said.

A map of toxin advisories is available for Ohio's public beaches through the state Department of Health. Many other states provide similar resources. Schechinger recommends an online search for nearby algae toxin advisories and, if nothing comes up, a call to the state agency that monitors blooms. 

Most research on Microcystis and cyanotoxins has emerged during the last decade. The relationship between nitrogen and toxicity is relatively well understood, although the field continues to develop.

The Microcystis dominating Lake Erie can only grow in size and toxicity until the bloom has used up all the available nitrogen or phosphorus in the lake. Early research identified phosphorus as the primary limiting nutrient, leading environmental regulations aimed at reducing algae to target only phosphorus.

Microcystis needs both phosphorus and nitrogen to grow, but it needs nitrogen directly to produce its toxin. So reducing phosphorus, but not nitrogen, would promote a bloom that is physically smaller but likely no less toxic. Reducing nitrogen, but not phosphorus, would promote a bloom that is just as large but composed of a different kind of algae that captures nitrogen from the air, which could be just as toxic.

"We need to focus on both, because really we're looking at a holistic approach," Davis said. "We want to reduce phosphorus and we want to reduce nitrogen so we have a healthy lake, because a healthy lake has a healthy balance of both nutrients."

Though the EPA now recommends reducing nitrogen alongside phosphorus, states' algae mitigation efforts have been slow to follow. In 2015, Michigan, Ohio and the Canadian province of Ontario signed the Western Basin of Lake Erie Collaborative Agreement, which requires a 40-percent reduction in the phosphorus—mostly from agricultural runoff—entering the lake by 2025. H2Ohio, which received funding as part of the Ohio budget last November, also focuses on limiting phosphorus runoff from agriculture to mitigate algal blooms.

Ohio has not achieved its preliminary goal of a 20 percent phosphorus reduction by 2020. When it comes to meeting the 40 percent target by 2025, said Bucher, from the Ohio Environmental Council, "I think we can get there. I think it's just going to take a double-down on effort." Having consistent funding will also be paramount, he said.

Most experts say reducing the quantity of nutrients released by farms is the only way to stop the blooms in a lake as large as Erie. Huichun "Judy" Zhang, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Case Western Reserve University, wants to prevent phosphorus that has already been released by farms from making it to the lake. 

She is developing a phosphorus-capturing system to mitigate agricultural runoff, using filters packed with tiny structures, each the size of a sesame seed, that can absorb phosphorus from the water that passes through. She has received $200,000 in grant money to support this work.

Zhang and her research partner, Chad Penn, a soil scientist working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, anticipate installing a pilot project demonstrating their technology in the near future. They plan to site the filters in places where runoff gathers naturally, such as drainage ditches.

"In the short term, to be able to cut down phosphorus release into the lake, this, we hope, is going to make a huge impact," Zhang said. She expects the filters to serve as a temporary solution until the phosphorus released by agriculture can be significantly reduced.

An Israeli company, BlueGreen Water Technologies, has a different approach. Two years ago, it launched a form of algaecide that targets cyanobacteria, triggering a mass die-off of the toxic algae while allowing non-toxic forms of algae—and other aquatic organisms—to survive. The treatment has seen success in Israel, South Africa and China, as well as in Ohio's Chippewa Lake, which had been plagued by toxic blooms for years. A year after BlueGreen applied its "LakeGuard" treatment, which took one day and cost about $20,000, Chippewa Lake remains algae-free.

Chief Technology Officer Moshe Harel is pleasantly surprised that algae has not returned to Chippewa Lake. "We write the book as we speak," he said.

Algal blooms in ponds or small lakes are relatively easy to remedy. But treating larger lakes is challenging. Lake Erie is thousands of times larger than the biggest lake BlueGreen has treated, but unlike just about everybody else, the company isn't put off by the scale. 

Harel, an environmental biologist and the creator of the LakeGuard treatment, which is USDA-approved and certified by the Ohio EPA, believes the treatment's ability to float and follow water currents will translate effectively to any lake, no matter the scale. At some point, but not quite yet, he wants to take on Lake Erie.

"We are not aiming to treat the whole lake," Harel said. "We do surgical treatments. So, for a lake such as Lake Erie, our aim will be to monitor where the bloom starts at the beginning of the season." 

In the meantime, Harel's sights are set on other big lakes, like Lake Okeechobee in Florida, the eighth-largest lake in the country, which is still 13 times smaller than Lake Erie.

"All these lakes are untreatable, left to bloom and for the blooms to get worse from year to year," said Chief Executive Officer Eyal Harel, Moshe Harel's brother, of the lakes BlueGreen has already treated. "I think we will treat Lake Erie. It's just a question of time."

Greenland’s Melting Ice Sheet Passed a Point of No Return

 

Going, Going ... Gone: Greenland’s Melting Ice Sheet Passed a Point of No Return in the Early 2000s

A new study finds that the accelerating retreat and thinning of Greenland’s glaciers that began 20 year ago is speeding the ice sheet toward total meltdown. 

Water from the Greenland ice sheet flows through heather and peat during unseasonably warm weather on Aug. 1, 2019. Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Water from the Greenland ice sheet flows through heather and peat during unseasonably warm weather on Aug. 1, 2019. Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The Greenland Ice Sheet managed to withstand the warming brought by the first 150 years of the industrial age, with enough snow piling up each winter to balance the ice lost to spring and summer melting. But, according to a new study, that all changed 20 years ago.

Starting in 2000, Greenland's glaciers suddenly began moving faster, their snouts rapidly retreating and thinning where they flow into the sea. Between 2000 and 2005, that acceleration led to an all-but irreversible "step-increase" of ice loss, scientists concluded in the new research, published this week in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment.

If the climate were to stop warming today, or even cool a little, Greenland's ice will continue to melt, said Ohio State University Earth scientist Ian Howat, co-author of the research paper. "Glacier retreat has knocked the dynamics of the whole ice sheet into a constant state of loss," he said. "Even if we were to stabilize at current temperatures, the ice will continue to disintegrate more quickly than if we hadn't messed with the climate to begin with."

 

Lead author Michalea King, a glaciologist at the Ohio State Byrd Polar Research Center, said the team looked at nearly 40 years of monthly satellite data for 200 Greenland glaciers to measure the meltdown, finding that "the ice that's discharging into the ocean is far surpassing the snow that's accumulating on the surface of the ice sheet."

"The kind of discouraging thing is, even if we were to go back to the old amounts of snow we were adding, at this new elevated rate of melting, we would expect it to stay out of balance for some time," she said.

Before 2000, the ice sheet would have about the same chance to gain or lose mass each year, she added, but in the current climate, the ice sheet will gain mass only once every 100 years.

Other research suggests that, in previous geologic eras, nearly the entire Greenland Ice Sheet melted when global temperatures were near today's levels, showing that even the thickest, coldest parts of Greenland are vulnerable to just a few degrees of warming.

How Long Will Greenland's Ice Last?

When all Greenland's ice melts, it will raise sea level by 20 feet. That could take 10,000 years, but jolts to the climate system like the glacier acceleration in the early 2000s, combined with the effects of the growing spread of ice-darkening algae and black carbon, the amount of meltwater saturating of the snow atop the ice or changes in ocean currents flowing near the glaciers could speed that up by thousands of years, Howat said. When a tongue of ice breaks free from its seafloor anchor, the flow of the glacier above it accelerates.

As Greenland's glaciers retreat from the sea, their floating tongues get thinner, break apart and lose their frozen grip on the seafloor. That speeds up the loss of ice from the thick interior ice sheet. Credit: Bob Berwyn

As Greenland's glaciers retreat from the sea, their floating tongues get thinner, break apart and lose their frozen grip on the seafloor. That speeds up the loss of ice from the thick interior ice sheet. Credit: Bob Berwyn

Melting ice is the main cause of sea level rise, and Greenland contributes the most meltwater to the ocean. With millions of people threatened by the rising ocean, the rate of sea level rise in the coming decades is critical for planning seawalls and other defenses, or deciding to abandon some coastal areas for higher ground. The Fourth National Climate Assessment estimates sea levels will rise 1 to 4 feet by 2100. The new study warns that accelerating melting could push the ocean toward the higher end of that range.

"If climate warming continues, technically the ice sheet is doomed," said Greenland ice researcher Jason Box, with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, who was not involved in the new study.

Ice loss would accelerate even more once the top of the ice sheet, which rises to 10,000 feet above sea level, melts down to a lower and warmer level of the atmosphere. Only a long series of very cold years could stabilize the ice, Box said. "What matters more is the climate trajectory, Is there any chance of cooling in the foreseeable future?"

Tipping points are complicated, but it's clear the Greenland Ice Sheet is not going to miraculously recover, said co-author Brice Noël, a climate scientist at Utrecht University.

"It's going to be difficult to reverse the trend," he said. "The ice discharge is high now, and it might increase more. In northwest Greenland, glaciers are still retreating fast."

Only a huge increase in winter snowfall could build up the ice sheet. Current models suggest that won't happen, but rather that more snow and ice will melt and evaporate, he said. "All the indicators right now are that snowfall will not change much, and ablation will increase."

Alfred Wegener Institute climate researcher Ingo Sasgen, who was not involved in the study, doesn't necessarily identify a tipping point, because those are hard to specify in the dynamic and complex climate system, and oversimplification can be misleading.

But the new research shows that the ice loss from Greenland is so great that "you would need a lot of snowfall to compensate for this," he said. "But we're seeing exactly the opposite; more extreme melt years. Rain will probably increase."

That rain is another factor accelerating the meltdown.

"The concerning message of this paper is the likelihood that we'll have a recovering ice sheet in the near future is close to zero," Sasgen said. It's also concerning that, during the 40-year satellite record, the five years with most ice loss have all been within the last 10 years, tracking with other indicators of the overheating planet, he added.

Even if the Greenland ice sheet is headed for a complete meltdown, curbing greenhouse gas emissions today could delay the process by 5,000 years, he said, giving people much more time to adapt as the sea encroaches across thousands of miles of densely populated coastlines.

Howat, the Ohio State co-author, said the findings identify the threshold at which global warming shifted the slow geologic pace of ice sheet melting into overdrive. Glaciers that flow into the ocean grow very slowly, but they can melt very fast, erasing centuries of advance in just a few decades, he added. 

The sudden glacier acceleration early this century increased the amount of ice flowing to the ocean so much that it's going to be nearly impossible for the ice sheet to grow, he said.

"What it's done is put us on a different trajectory," he said. "Tipping points are where we go from one trajectory to another. It's hard, if not impossible to go back."

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14082020/greenland-ice-sheet-melt-climate-change?utm_source=InsideClimate+News&utm_campaign=56fe398c80-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-56fe398c80-327858909




Bijen massaal dood in Noord-Italië

 

Stralingsleed

Welkom op de pagina van Ria Lurvink-Luttikhold

Bijen massaal dood in Noord-Italië (8-8-2020).

Imkers staan voor een raadsel na plotselinge bijensterfte Noord-Italië.

Afgelopen weekend, tussen vrijdagavond 7 augustus 2020 en zaterdagochtend 8 augustus 2020, zijn in Noord-Italië, in het gebied tussen de steden Cremona en Brescia, 4 miljoen bijen doodgegaan en130 bijenfamilies zijn getroffen.
Niemand weet wat de oorzaak is van de sterfte van de bijen. De lokale landbouworganisatie spreekt van een “catastrofe”.

“De schade is groot en nog niet definitief, want we streven ernaar om het lokale imkererfgoed zo snel mogelijk te herstellen”, zegt een imker uit de getroffen streek die 250 bijenvolken heeft. “Gelukkig betreft het een beperkt gebied, de bijenkasten in de aangrenzende gemeenten en in andere delen van de provincie hebben geen problemen ondervonden.”

Domme domme imkers
Waarom weten jullie niet dat de massale bijensterfte volgens onafhankelijke wetenschappers wordt veroorzaakt door elektromagnetische velden (of straling), nodig voor de mobiele telefonie. Zendmasten, wifi, smartphones en alle draadloze verbindingen verstoren de natuurlijke elektromagnetische velden waar de bijen gebruik van maken. In 2009 waarschuwde de Zwitserse bioloog Daniël Favre al. De wetenschappers waar de ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) naar luisteren geven de verdwijnende honingbijen de schuld van veranderingen in de landbouw, de varroamijt (een bloedzuigende parasiet die kolonies kwetsbaar maakt voor ziekten), buitenissig weer, vergiftiging, de achteruitgang van wilde bloemen en pesticiden. Het is maar niet wie je geloven wil wanneer mobiel gebruik zo ingeburgerd is en gemakkelijk voor is de mens. Dan zijn jullie bijenvolken wel de dupe. Gelukkig zijn er ook al een aantal imkers wakker.

Onderzoek Daniël Favre
Daniël Favre, adviseur voor bijenteelt in Lausanne en voormalig wetenschappelijk medewerker bij het Zwitsers Nationaal Laboratorium voor Biotechnologie te Lausanne, heeft in 2009 een onderzoek verricht naar het gedrag van bijen en een opmerkelijke ontdekking gedaan die een verklaring geeft voor het wereldwijd verdwijning van bijenvolken. D. Favre plaatste twee mobiele telefoons boven een bijenkorf en na ongeveer 25 tot 40 minuten begonnen de werkbijen een reeks van hoge piepjes te geven, die hij heeft opgenomen. Voor bijen is dit een signaal van gevaar. Het signaal om weg te wezen! Gevaar! In een vervolgonderzoek (juli 2012 begonnen de bijen ongeveer 20 tot 40 minuten nadat de telefoons waren geactiveerd, “fluitende” oproepen uit te zenden – een reeks hoge piepgeluiden die het begin van het zwermen aankondigden. Binnen twee minuten nadat het telefoongesprek was beëindigd, kalmeerden de werkbijen.
D. Favre: “Deze studie toont aan dat de aanwezigheid van een actieve mobiele telefoon de bijen stoort – en een dramatisch effect heeft. Het onderzoek toonde niet aan dat mobiele telefoons dodelijk waren voor bijen”, zei hij in 2012, niet wetende dat 5G in 2020 al wereldwijd geactiveerd is. 

Wetenschappelijk verklaring
In het achterlijf van bijen zitten minuscuul kleine magnetieten (natuurlijke magneten), nodig voor de navigatie. Magnetiet is een materiaal dat een zeer goede geleider is voor de elektriciteit van elektromagnetische velden. Door de natuurlijke elektromagnetische velden kunnen bijen zich oriënteren net zoals o.a. regenboogforellen, zeeschildpadden, vleermuizen, haaien, dolfijnen en trekvogels. De natuurlijke elektromagnetische velden worden verstoord door de vele technische en kunstmatig gemaakte elektromagnetische velden voor alle draadloze toepassingen die enorm zijn toegenomen in de 21ste eeuw.

Onderzoek professor Warnke
Elektronische smog veroorzaakt door mobiele telefoons, zendmasten en wifi-systemen verstoren de natuur, zegt professor U. Warnke in 2008. De wetenschapper stelt dat vooral vogels en bijen onder de kunstmatige elektrosmog te lijden hebben. Hun gedrag verandert hierdoor; ze kunnen zich niet meer voortplanten en kunnen zelfs als gevolg van de straling sterven. Een van de aandachtspunten van professor Warnke is het effect van de elektromagnetische trillingen van het draadloze op elk organisme. De natuurlijke elektromagnetische velden (o.a. het aardmagnetisme en de stralen van de zon) zijn van groot belang voor het voort bestaan van flora, fauna en mensen. Organismen die de natuurlijke elektromagnetische velden nodig hebben om te leven en als deze natuurlijke velden verstoord worden door menselijke elektromagnetische velden (kunstmatige of technische), zal de oriëntatie en navigatie verward raken, aldus professor Warnke. Onderzoek toont aan dat bijen die hebben blootgestaan aan kunstmatige elektrische velden eerder geneigd zijn hun soortgenoten en hun kroost aan te vallen. Ook konden de bijen hun korf niet meer terugvinden. Trekvogels – die onderweg naar het zuiden waren, raakten elkaar kwijt in de nabijheid van zendmasten en zeezoogdieren bevinden zich in wateren waar ze niet thuishoren met alle gevolgen van dien.

5G
“De nieuwste mobiele telefonie generatie (5G) zal een compleet nieuwe stralingsomgeving creëren voor flora en fauna. De straling zal intenser en meer kortere golflengtes geven, met het effect van een stralingswapen”, zegt professor Dr Werner Thiede.

5G EVE (European Validation platform for Extensive trails)
De catasrofe van 4 miljoen dode bijen gebeurde in een regio van zo’n 6 kilometer tussen de gemeenten Villagana, Azzanello en Genivolta (in de buurt van het Gardameer). Waar de verbinding van 5G EVE overheen gaat. 

5G EVE is het Europese 5G-validatieplatform voor uitgebreide tests en is een van de drie 5G PPP*-infrastructuurprojecten die op 1 juli 2018 zijn gestart. Het doel is om geavanceerde 5G-infrastructuren in Europa te implementeren en te testen. Het 5G EVE-concept is gebaseerd op het verder ontwikkelen en met elkaar verbinden van bestaande Europese locaties vanuit Griekenland naar Spanje, Frankrijk en Italië om een unieke 5G end-to-end-faciliteit te vormen. De verbinding Athene/Parijs loopt over Noord-Italië.

*5G PPP
Het 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (5G PPP) is een gezamenlijk initiatief van de Europese Commissie en de Europese ICT-industrie (ICT-fabrikanten, telecomoperatoren, serviceproviders, MKB en onderzoeksinstellingen). De 5G-PPP zal oplossingen, architecturen, technologieën en standaarden leveren voor de alomtegenwoordige communicatie-infrastructuren van de volgende generatie van het komende decennium. De uitdaging voor het 5G Public Private Partnership (5G PPP) is om het leiderschap van Europa veilig te stellen op de specifieke gebieden waar Europa sterk is of waar er potentieel is om nieuwe markten te creëren, zoals slimme steden, e-gezondheid, intelligent vervoer, onderwijs of amusement en media. 

Bronnen:
https://nos.nl/artikel/2343939-imkers-staan-voor-raadsel-na-plotselinge-bijensterfte-noord-italie.html?fbclid=IwAR0wraf_szIi2Ti3sR2EYPIFhmmcFVUoQhYx344JMHvH3pAmdQkcsouVTbI
https://www.science-in-water.com/Nederlands/magnetisch-veld.html
https://www.naturalscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/favre_study_mobile-phone-induced-honeybee-worker-piping_08-10_english.pdf
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1385907/Why-mobile-phone-ring-make-bees-buzz-Insects-infuriated-handset-signals.html

http://stralingsleed.nl/blog/bijen-massaal-dood-in-noord-italie-8-8-2020/