The Wi-Fi can kill the trees, say Dutch researchers 2010-12-13
Two studies have just initiated the alert: 70% of trees in a small Dutch town are sick; exposure to electromagnetic radiation from Wi-Fi may be responsible for the disease.
The first warning sign came from a small town by the name of Alphen aan den Rijn, which have recorded an increase in the number of sick trees.
The investigation was triggered by Niek van 't Wout, in charge of maintaining open spaces of the city that surprised by the fact that most of the 36,000 city trees and bulbs make lumps that are usually related diseases.
In a first review in 2007, local services have concluded that 10% of the trees suffered from this ailment. In 2010, it would be 30% of sick trees.
This number also adds another intriguing: 70% of the trees in Alphen aan den Rijn have some kind of "abnormal" or disabled.
The people behind the green spaces of the city did not want to waste more time and has launched a challenge to scientists for studying and understanding a possible link between the diseases of trees and a hypothetical adverse effect of Wi-Fi used in the surrounding homes, The Wall Street Journal.
In parallel, another Dutch city, a researcher from Wageningen University carried out an experiment which concluded at the outset, the Wi-Fi can damage the leaves.
The test required the placement of 25 small trees (ash was the species chosen) into two compartments. In an enclosure the trees had a "company" of six Wi-Fi routers similar to those now used by millions of people at home or workplace.
Andre van Lammeren, author of the study confirmed, three months into the experiment, the trees closest to the routers had the damaged leaves.
Despite this finding, van Lammeren remember that we must continue with their studies before reaching definitive conclusions about the hypothetical negative effect that the Wi-Fi can have on tree growth. What has not stopped newspapers, TV channels and blogs from within and outside the Netherlands cast the alert that triggered a new debate about the impact of wireless networks to the surrounding flora and fauna.
