A new victim of cellphones

We the humans think we are the supreme creation of god…and with this we lend blind eyes to the multitude of species around us. We are always on the run to provide the best environment for us to live… an environment full of comfort and luxury…destroying the use environment of others. It is not a new issue for us. We all are brought up hearing environmental issues…but now it has taken its most vulnerable form…Today there is not even a single species which has escaped from our “vulture hands”.

Now our actions have taken a different direction by affecting the most wonderful creature “Honey Bee”. Though it is not a new phenomenon, a very alarming cause is found out. It has been found that our cellphones deviate the honeybees from their path and prevent them from reaching back to their hives.  The implications of the spread are alarming. Most of the world’s crops depend on pollination by bees. Albert Einstein once said that if the bees disappeared, “man would have only four years of life left”.

Now peeping deeper into the studies…the results are quite shocking.

 The researchers are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world – the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon – which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe – was beginning to hit Britain as well. The colony collapse have started to become a common phenomenon.

The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees’ navigation systems, preventing the famously home loving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up.

Now let us move our attention towards a study held in Punjab……..

The researchers fitted cell phones to a hive and powered them up for two fifteen-minute periods each day.

After three months, they found the bees stopped producing honey, egg production by the queen bee halved, and the size of the hive dramatically reduced.

It’s not just the honey that will be lost if populations plummet further. Bees are estimated to pollinate 90 commercial crops worldwide. Their economic value in the UK is estimated to be $290 million per year and around $12 billion in the U.S.

Andrew Goldsworthy, a biologist from the UK’s Imperial College, London, has studied the biological effects of electromagnetic fields. He thinks it’s possible bees could be affected by cell phone radiation.

The reason, Goldsworthy says, could hinge on a pigment in bees called cryptochrome.

“Animals, including insects, use cryptochrome for navigation,” Goldsworthy told.

“They use it to sense the direction of the earth’s magnetic field and their ability to do this is compromised by radiation from [cell] phones and their base stations. So basically bees do not find their way back to the hive.”

Goldsworthy has written to the UK communications regulator OFCOM suggesting a change of phone frequencies would stop the bees being confused.

“It’s possible to modify the signal coming from the [cell] phones and the base station in such a way that it doesn’t produce the frequencies that disturb the cryptochrome molecules,” Goldsworthy said.

“So they could do this without the signal losing its ability to transmit information.”

But the UK’s Mobile Operators Association — which represents the UK’s five mobile network operators — told that: “Research scientists have already considered possible factors involved in CCD and have identified the areas for research into the causes of CCD which do not include exposure to radio waves.”

Norman Carreck, Scientific director of the International Bee research Association at the UK’s University of Sussex says it’s still not clear how much radio waves affect bees.

“We know they are sensitive to magnetic fields. What we don’t know is what use they actually make of them. And no one has yet demonstrated that honey bees use the earth’s magnetic field when navigating,” Carreck said.

Whatever  might be the reason it is high time for us to think of a remedy..not just in this but on all the hazards that we cause on earth. To whichever height we move we need a platform to stand…let our technological advancements doesnot curb the growth of other beings…In this new year let us take an oath that all our new endeavors will be in accordance with the nature.