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The possibility that conditions on the Sun and in the Earth’s magnetosphere can affect human health at the Earth’s surface has been debated for many decades. This work reviews the research undertaken in the field of heliobiology, focusing on the effect of variations of geomagnetic activity on human cardiovascular health. Data from previous research...
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... study performed by Stoupel et al. (1995) discussed in the previous section also investigated the relationship between suicide and geomagnetic activity param- eters. All suicides registered in the state of Israel (N = 2,359) for a 108-month period between 1980 and 1989 were analysed and compared with the total number of deaths (15,601) and deaths from MI (1,573) in a large university hospital over a period of 180 months (1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989). The monthly suicide rate was significantly correlated with geomagnetic activity (r = -0.22, ...
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... the Earth's surface and the ionosphere ( Schumann 1952). The so-called Schumann Resonance (SR) signals are electromagnetic resonances of the global Earth-ionosphere (quasi) spherical-shell cavity ( Barr et al. 2000). These res- onances are excited by global lightning activity and are measured in the lower ELF band between 5 and 60 Hz, as shown in Fig. 5. Schumann showed that the resonance frequencies are given by an equation of the form f n ¼ 7:49ðnðn þ 1ÞÞ ...
Citations
... USED DATA With regard to the level of heliogeophysical activity and the state of human physiological health, two types of quantifiable indicators are given in the literature (Palmer et al., 2006). ...
... The effect of heliogeophysical disturbances on the human body is studied by scientists at various scientific centers of the world. The main results of these studies obtained over the past 30 years are summarized in (Palmer et al., 2006). The various parameters used as indicators of human health, the methodology of statistical analysis, and the mechanisms of influence are considered. ...
... Solar storms can induce variations of 5 μT at high latitudes and 1 220 μT near the equator. For this reason, solar and geomagnetic disturbances produce larger 221 effects at high latitudes [4]. Large interindividual variability in the period, phase and 222 amplitude of physiological functions entrained by the circadian rhythm has been observed 223 in living organisms such as zebrafish [53], which may reflect variations in 224 magnetosensitivity. ...
Living organisms have evolved within the natural electromagnetic fields of the earth which comprise atmospheric electricity, Schumann resonances and the geomagnetic field. Research suggests that the circadian rhythm, which controls several physiological functions in the human body, can be influenced by light but also by the earth's electromagnetic fields. Cyclic solar disturbances, including sunspots and seasonal weakening of the geomagnetic field, can affect human health, possibly by disrupting the circadian rhythm and downstream physiological functions. Severe disruption of the circadian rhythm increases inflammation which can induce fatigue, fever and flu-like symptoms in a fraction of the population and worsen existing symptoms in old and diseased individuals, leading to periodic spikes of infectious and chronic diseases. Possible mechanisms underlying sensing of the earth's electromagnetic fields involve entrainment, light-dependent radical pair formation in retina cryptochromes, and paramagnetic magnetite nanoparticles. Factors such as electromagnetic pollution from wireless devices and antennas, shielding by non-conductive materials used in shoes and buildings, and local geomagnetic anomalies may also affect sensing of the earth's electromagnetic fields by the human body and contribute to circadian rhythm disruption and disease development.
... Possible health hazards of natural, solar-variability-driven temporal variations in the Earth's magnetic field have been controversial due to inconsistent results over the past half century. Researchers evaluated how the physical environment, including variables such as the natural variation in the geomagnetic field in and around the Earth, affect biological processes [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] and human health [28,[51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63]. Studies were conducted in the laboratory and in the field. ...
... Geomagnetic fluctuations in the magnetosphere significantly affect humans not only on Earth but also in space. Humans living at higher geomagnetic latitudes are particularly affected, as geomagnetic disturbances are stronger in arctic areas [55,71]. Effects of geomagnetic disturbances on human physiology are nonlinear and display hormetic responses [72], perhaps understood as part of a broader bell-shaped doseresponse curve [85]. ...
... Windowed responses appear only in a certain range of doses, which may differ among individuals and change depending on circumstances. They account for the lack of response outside, contrasting with a strong response inside these 'windows' [27][28][29]33,55,71,85,87]. Extremely high as well as extremely low geomagnetic activity seem to suppress BP or HRV variability and have adverse health effects [55]. ...
This investigation reviews how geomagnetic activity affects the circadian variation in blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) and their variabilities of clinically healthy individuals. A small study in Alta, Norway (latitude of 70.0° N), serves to illustrate the methodology used to outline rules of procedure in exploring heliogeomagnetic effects on human physiology. Volunteers in the Alta study were monitored for at least 2 days between 18 March 2002 and 9 January 2005. Estimates of the circadian characteristics of BP and HR by cosinor and the Maximum Entropy Method (MEM) indicate an increase in the circadian amplitude of systolic (S) BP on geomagnetic-disturbance days compared to quiet days (p = 0.0236). Geomagnetic stimulation was found to be circadian-phase dependent, with stimulation in the evening inducing a 49.2% increase in the circadian amplitude of SBP (p = 0.0003), not observed in relation to stimulation in the morning. In two participants monitored for 7 days, the circadian amplitude of SBP decreased by 23.4% on an extremely disturbed day but increased by 50.3% on moderately disturbed days (p = 0.0044), suggesting a biphasic (hormetic) reaction of the circadian SBP rhythm to geomagnetics. These results indicate a possible role of geomagnetic fluctuations in modulating the circadian system.
... Disturbances in the ELF spectrum have also been observed after the Johnston Island high-altitude nuclear test of July 9, 1962 ("Starfish Prime" test at an altitude of 400 km) [28]. Also noteworthy are possible effects of ELF waves on human health [29][30][31]. ...
The photon is the paradigm for a massless particle, and current experimental tests set severe upper bounds on its mass. Probing such a small mass, or equivalently large Compton wavelength, is challenging at laboratory scales, but planetary or astrophysical phenomena may potentially reach much better sensitivities. In this work, we consider the effect of a finite photon mass on Schumann resonances in the Earth-ionosphere cavity, since the transverse magnetic modes circulating Earth have eigenfrequencies of order O(10 Hz) that could be sensitive to mγ≈10−14 eV/c2. In particular, we update the limit from Kroll [Phys. Rev. Lett. 27, 340 (1971)], mγ≤2.4×10−13 eV/c2, by considering realistic conductivity profiles for the atmosphere. We find the conservative upper bound mγ≤2.5×10−14 eV/c2, a factor 9.6 more strict than Kroll’s earlier projection.
... Finally, heliobiology or as mentioned in Babayev (2008) cosmobiology or astrobiology examines the effect of solar activity on living organisms and especially on humans (Palmer et al. 2006;Babayev and Allahverdiyeva 2007). ...
Many scientific investigations have focused on how space weather phenomena, taking place in the vicinity of the Earth, may influence different aspects of life on Earth and presumably human health itself. From 2005, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has established an important position in the field of these investigations by collaborating with various scientists and Institutes, both international and domestic, in different heliobiological projects. In this work, the Cosmic Ray Group of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has co-operated with the medical staff from different hospitals and clinics around the country so as to develop large records of medical data (heart rate) which covers a long time period. These data are analyzed in regard to physical activity, either on a daily basis or on different levels of geomagnetic disturbances and variations of the cosmic ray intensity using the ANalysis Of Variance (ANOVA) and the multiple linear regression analysis. Results suggest that space weather phenomena may be related to heart rate variability, i.e., heart rate is statistically significantly effected either by variations of cosmic rays intensity or geomagnetic activity.
... 4.2), and developing effective risk management solutions. Future research could also study natural GCRs not included in this paper, such as those involving fluctuations in Earth's magnetic field (Palmer et al. 2006) and back contamination of Earth by extraterrestrial pathogens (Stern et al. 2019). This paper's theoretical analysis could be extended to account for observation selection effects (Ćirković et al. 2010), for example by accounting for the nonoccurrence of prior catastrophes that would decimate but not eliminate the human population. ...
The risk of global catastrophe from natural sources may be significantly larger than previous analyses have found. In the study of global catastrophic risk (GCR), one line of thinking posits that deep human history renders natural GCRs insignificant. Essentially, the fact that natural hazards did not cause human extinction at any previous time makes it unlikely that they would do so now. This paper finds flaws in this argument, refines the theory of natural GCR, analyzes the space of natural GCRs, and presents implications for decision-making and research. The paper analyzes natural climate change, natural pandemics, near-Earth objects (asteroids, comets, and meteors), space weather (coronal mass ejections, solar flares, and solar particle events), stellar explosions (gamma-ray bursts and supernovae), and volcanic eruptions. Almost all natural GCR scenarios involve important interactions between the natural hazard and human civilization. Several natural GCR scenarios may have high ongoing probability. Deep human history provides little information about the resilience of modern global civilization to natural global catastrophes. The natural GCRs should not be dismissed on grounds of deep human history. Work on natural GCRs should account for their important human dimensions. A case can even be made for abandoning the distinction between natural and anthropogenic GCR.
... The models also included the age, left ventricular ejection fraction, the presence of comorbidities, smoking, previous myocardial infarction (MI), the presence of depression, the concentration of fine particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2,5 µm (PM2.5), the linear trend, and weather variables with a significant effect on the dependent variables. Non-linear associations between GMA and adverse effects on health were observed [44]; therefore, the terms of GMA/CRI/SWS variables were used as categorised using quartiles and the classification and regression tree method [45]; the cut-offs were detected by the first split of nodes. In the analysis, we used these variables on the day of the ECG and on the two previous days. ...
The aim of this study was to identify associations of the parameters of heart rate variability (HRV) with the variations in geomagnetic activity (GMA), solar wind, and cosmic ray intensity (CRI) in patients after coronary artery bypass grafting or valve surgery in Kaunas, Lithuania, during 2008–2012. The data from 5-minute electrocardiograms (ECGs) in 220 patients were used. ECGs were carried out at 1.5 months, 1 year, and 2 years after the surgery (N = 495). A lower (higher) very-low-frequency-band (VLF) and a higher (lower) high-frequency band (HF) in normalised units (n.u.) were associated with a low maximal daily 3-hourly ap (the DST index > 1). A lower mean standard deviation of beat-to-beat intervals (SDNN) and VLF, LF, and HF powers were lower in patients when Ap < 8 occurred two days after the surgery, and a low solar wind speed (SWS) occurred two days before the ECG. The effect of CRI was non-significant if the linear trend was included in the model. Low GMA and a low SWS may effect some HRV variables in patients after open-heart surgery. The GMA during the surgery may affect the SDNN in short-term ECG during the longer period.
... Disturbances in the ELF spectrum have also been observed after the Johnston Island high-altitude nuclear test of July 9, 1962 ("Starfish Prime" test at an altitude of 400 km) [25]. Also noteworthy are possible effects of ELF waves on human health [26][27][28]. ...
... Furthermore, due to the finite conductivity, the k obtained via Eq. (27) are complex. The quality factor, defined as Q = Re(k )/2 Im(k ) [19], can also be expressed as Q = f /∆f , where ∆f is the width at half maximum. ...
The photon is the paradigm for a massless particle and current experimental tests set severe upper bounds on its mass. Probing such a small mass, or equivalently large Compton wavelength, is challenging at laboratory scales, but planetary or astrophysical phenomena may potentially reach much better sensitivities. In this work we consider the effect of a finite photon mass on Schumann resonances in the Earth-ionosphere cavity, since the TM modes circulating Earth have eigen-frequencies of order $\mathcal{O} (10 \, {\rm Hz})$ that could be sensitive to $m_\gamma \approx 10^{-14} \, {\rm eV/c}^2$. In particular, we update the limit from Kroll [Phys. Rev. Lett. 27, 340 (1971)], $m_\gamma \leq 2.4 \times 10^{-13} \, {\rm eV/c}^2$, by considering realistic conductivity profiles for the atmosphere. We find the conservative upper bound $m_\gamma \leq 2.5 \times 10^{-14} \, {\rm eV/c}^2$, a factor 9.6 more strict than Kroll's earlier projection.
... According to researchers, this means that 10−15% of people in each generation are sensitive to geomagnetic storms. This effect on people with cardiovascular disease has been most reliably identified, namely a negative correlation, and less reliable are the effects on the mentally ill and the number of suicides (Palmer et al., 2006). Based on the monitoring of heart rate variability over a long period, a linear correlation was found with the planetary geomagnetic indices Kp (r = 0.50) and Ap (r = 0.35) (Alabdulgader et al., 2018). ...
The paper first introduces the sunspot cycles and discusses the relationship between the solar cycles and the 12?year Chinese calendar. The latter has a significant impact on the lives and thinking of some East Asian countries and the emigrants from those countries. Western civilization considers solar cycles and their impact on human life only as solar astronomy and geomagnetism. Through the established effects on life on Earth, the life span of an individual is the starting point through which the paper represents the long-term influence of the Sun on us.
... Exposure to broad-spectrum electromagnetic solar activity can adversely affect human physiology and lead to adverse health outcomes. Recent epidemiological studies have shown solar and geomagnetic activity is associated with chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases(CVD) [3,4]. A meta-analysis of 263 U.S. cities demonstrated that short-term geomagnetic disturbances are significantly associated with deaths from cardiovascular disease and myocardial infarction [2]. ...
This study investigated the associations between solar and geomagnetic activity and circulating biomarkers of systemic inflammation and endothelial activation in the Normative Aging Study (NAS) cohort. Mixed effects models with moving day averages from day 0 to day 28 were used to study the associations between solar activity (sunspot number (SSN), interplanetary magnetic field (IMF)), geomagnetic activity (planetary K index (K p index), and various inflammatory and endothelial markers. Biomarkers included intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), C-reactive protein (CRP), and fibrinogen. After adjusting for demographic and meteorological variables, we observed significant positive associations between sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 concentrations and solar and geomagnetic activity parameters: IMF, SSN, and K p . Additionally, a negative association was observed between fibrinogen and K p index and a positive association was observed for CRP and SSN. These results demonstrate that solar and geomagnetic activity might be upregulating endothelial activation and inflammation.
