h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

When looking at the reasoning it looks quite convincing. If it is true or not .. I still had a very big smile on my face and some thoughts in my mind.

You have to add one more factor: even when not talking, the mobile phobe is active, connecting to the closest cell once every few minutes. 30 times an hour, for 5 seconds, makes a lot of energy for some billions of these phones ... 100mW for 2½ minutes/hour, 60 minutes/day, 365 hours in a year = 0,0365kWh, for one million phones that equals to 36 500 kWh ... and there is nobody talking ...

I have shut down my phone when at home (which is at least 10 hours each day ...) considering all the positive consequences on the environment that should be done by every mobile phone owner. When at home use POTS (plain old telephone service).

Thank you very much. It's complete bollocks of course - UHF doesn't bounce off the atmosphere, it goes though it, hence we can talk to satellites, it probably wouldn't be steered towards the poles anyway, and 20kW is nothing to something the size of the Arctic.

You're right about the standby emissions, and I will add your bit sometime if that's OK.

Feel free to link to it, my original plan was to start a new health scare

Of course it is not true - but that does not matter ...
I tried your story in our coffee room during a break: all persones except one believed it! So your idea to start a new health scare would probably work well - at least among those who do not check the facts ... please feel free to use my idea when ever and where ever ...