As 5G House Hearing Looms, One Expert Brings Up a Different Concern

Meteorologist warns that 5G activation could set the accuracy of weather forecasting back decades.

Wednesday, February 02, 2022 at 10:03 AM ET

Verified

An important part of aviation, weather forecasting, could be affected by the activation of 5G networks. [File Photo: Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

The activation of 5G networks, particularly the C-band, is predicted to corrupt crucial weather data by interfering with natural water vapor sensing frequencies, potentially setting back forecasting accuracy by decades and compromising information for pilots.
Beyond weather data, 5G signals also raise concerns for overall aviation safety by threatening to disrupt radio altimeters on airliners, particularly in low-visibility situations.
Experts urge the FCC to protect sensitive frequencies and the wireless industry to implement noise reduction, while also requiring detailed 5G deployment data for accurate impact modeling.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Airliners aren’t the only faction of aviation that could be impacted by the activation of 5G networks. Meteorologists and experts in forecasting technology say the activation of 5G could corrupt weather data to the point that all pilots and others that rely on weather information could be operating with compromised and potentially incorrect information.

“The loss of fidelity from 5G could put the technology back 20 or 30 years,” said William Mahoney, director of the Research Applications Laboratory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).