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

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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 poses a significant threat to weather forecasting technology, as its signals could corrupt critical atmospheric data vital for accurate models.
Meteorologists warn that 5G interference, particularly with water vapor sensing frequencies, could set back weather forecasting accuracy by 20-30 years, leading to compromised information for pilots and other operations.
Beyond weather data, 5G also raises concerns about disrupting aircraft radio altimeters, prompting calls for protected frequencies and advanced noise reduction technology from the wireless industry to mitigate risks.

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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).