UNUSUAL WEATHER CONDITIONS

Evening Star, Issue 21992, 30 March 1935, Page 4

UNUSUAL WEATHER CONDITIONS

RADIO MMMUHICATI6N BLAMED Since its first days wireless communication has been frequently blamed by some individuals for unusual weather or other conditions (writes Mr N. M. Goddard, in the Sydney ‘ Morning Herald It has been held responsible for too much rain, while it has also been blamed for not enough rain. In short, it has l«en made the scapegoat by some who, seeking an explanation of some otherwise unaccountable happening, and finding no ready reason, have taken the broad effects of wireless transmission as a convenient explanation 01, to them, the otherwise inexplicable. Recently it was suggested that the prevalence* of thunderstorms and damage by lightning might be attributed to the number of transmitting stations that are dotted about this country. From the dawn of intelligence in man explanations have been sought to account for lightning and allied effects, in the days of the ancients Jupiter and gods of other mythologies were held responsible for lightning and thunderbolts. In detail the explanations have varied, but generally they had for centuries something to do with the wrath of the gods. It was not until comparatively recently, with the increase of scientific investigation and knowledge, that lightning was altogether separated from the supernatural. To-day the cause and effect of lightning in many forms are fairly well known, although the explanation of the particular form of lightning known as a “ fireball ” is not yet clearly understood. Some of the old superstitions still linger, although in the majority of instances considerably modified. It would be difficult to-day to find any who still believe in witchcraft or the “ were-wolf ” myth and similar beliefs which were strongly held four or five centuries ago, yet it is by no means uncommon to find otherwise sound people who hold such things as wireless transmission responsible for abnormal conditions of weather. Meteorological records and history generally show that, although for small periods seasons and other weather conditions may apparently have changed, conditions over long periods have not materially varied. There is certainly nothing to suggest, either in theory or in practice, that wireless communication in any of its forms has had the slightest influence upon the frequency or intensity of thunderstorms, rain, drought, winds, or other forces of Nature. It is the custom to refer to powerful wireless transmitters having been put into operation in many parts of toe world, hut the word “ powerful ” is only relative, and compared to the forces of Nature, could be replaced by some such term as “ insignificant, ’ for that is what they are in reality. Across the Atlantic there are numerous wireless telegraph channels which, according to modern standards, are powerful and reliable, and yet they and the cables arc sometimes entirely useless during the occurrence of the Aurora Borealis or a magnetic storm. In Australia there arc in the aggregate a lot of wireless but the energy radiated by them collectively is not very great. All the broadcasting stations, both national and commercial, have an aggregate power of only about fifty horse-power, which is no more than that of one of hundreds of thousands of motor cars running obout the streets and roads of Australia. Counting in all the commercial stations in this continent, it is doubtful whether they can deliver any more energy than that of half a dozen motor cars. Likewise, tho combined effect of all the wireless stations in the world in disturbing the ether is exceedingly small compared to that of the numerous flashes of lightning. which, it has been calculated, occur at the rate of 1,000 per second. Each of them delivers _ a tremendous amount of energy, which, if it could be harnessed in a convenient manner, would provide the whole world with cheap power. A wireless station anywhere is but a poor disturber of the ether compared to a flash of lightning, and it is difficult to see how they could influence the frequency or intensity of natural electrical stoniis. The only point they have in common is that their effects are transmitted through the same medium—viz., the ether. Wireless stations could be compared to a fleet of small boats disturbing the surface of an area of water such ns Sydney Harbour, in which there were also a large number o£ more energetic disturbers such as ocean-going steamers. The small boats, although adding their small quota to the general surface disturbance, could not in the slightest degree influence the behaviour of or the effects caused by the larger craft. Nor could they determine in any way the frequency with which the larger craft moved or the energy that they might dissipate.