I'm making this thread to post research about the health effects of different kinds of space weather events and to discuss it. Here is a thread that already exists for talking about current space weather and how it is affecting you or others: Solar Flare Reports, Forecasts, Detox Events, Did You Feel it?
The number of different health effects that research has linked with space weather disturbances of all kinds includes all sorts of things. Most well know and studied are the effects on the heart and brain. In this first post I'm not going to focus on the kinds of effects but on the fact that the effects can be caused by all kinds of space weather, and not just one kind like geomagnetic storms like I have sometimes seen suggested.
Solar flares create immediate effects on health, I have felt them within minutes of the flare and there is research that supports this being the case. Coronal mass ejections (which occur with some solar flares but not all, and can occur without a flare as well) create a high density plasma region of the solar wind that takes several days to reach Earth, at which point it interacts with the Earths magnetic field, sometimes causing geomagnetic storms. These are the most well studied and linked to health effects, but as I said before, the effect can begin with the flare itself and does not necessarily depend on the arrival of the geomagnetic storm: "AMI [acute myocardial infarction] incidence number was significantly increased from the day before till the day after geomagnetic storms with different intensities."
Geomagnetic Storms and Acute Myocardial Infarctions Morbidity in Middle Latitudes
Also "Arterial blood pressure values started increasing two days prior to geomagnetic storms and kept their high values up to two days after the storms."
Possible influence of solar extreme events and related geomagnetic disturbances on human cardio-vascular state: Results of collaborative Bulgarian–Azerbaijani studies
Something I have observed in myself and others a number of times that is not as well studied is that proton storms seem to me to strongly affect health and psychology, as well as extreme weather. Proton storms can be triggered by solar flares or coronal mass ejections and they can begin fairly quickly after the event. They can ramp up and down in intensity over periods of several days or even a week or more sometimes. The proton storm is an influx of energetic protons directly from the sun into the Earth's poles. One study did an analysis that "indicates a possible relation between the increased arrhythmia cases and the arrival of energetic solar protons in the Earth’s environment"
A study of the possible relation of the cardiac arrhythmias occurrence to the polarity reversal of the solar magnetic field
If anyone is interested in the mechanism by which proton storms could affect the weather, here is a lecture by Gerald Pollack talking about how he thinks a number of weather phenomena are driven by the accumulation of positive charge: Gerald Pollack: Weather and EZ Water -- An Intimate Role of Separated Charge | EU2017
The number of different health effects that research has linked with space weather disturbances of all kinds includes all sorts of things. Most well know and studied are the effects on the heart and brain. In this first post I'm not going to focus on the kinds of effects but on the fact that the effects can be caused by all kinds of space weather, and not just one kind like geomagnetic storms like I have sometimes seen suggested.
Solar flares create immediate effects on health, I have felt them within minutes of the flare and there is research that supports this being the case. Coronal mass ejections (which occur with some solar flares but not all, and can occur without a flare as well) create a high density plasma region of the solar wind that takes several days to reach Earth, at which point it interacts with the Earths magnetic field, sometimes causing geomagnetic storms. These are the most well studied and linked to health effects, but as I said before, the effect can begin with the flare itself and does not necessarily depend on the arrival of the geomagnetic storm: "AMI [acute myocardial infarction] incidence number was significantly increased from the day before till the day after geomagnetic storms with different intensities."
Geomagnetic Storms and Acute Myocardial Infarctions Morbidity in Middle Latitudes
Also "Arterial blood pressure values started increasing two days prior to geomagnetic storms and kept their high values up to two days after the storms."
Possible influence of solar extreme events and related geomagnetic disturbances on human cardio-vascular state: Results of collaborative Bulgarian–Azerbaijani studies
Something I have observed in myself and others a number of times that is not as well studied is that proton storms seem to me to strongly affect health and psychology, as well as extreme weather. Proton storms can be triggered by solar flares or coronal mass ejections and they can begin fairly quickly after the event. They can ramp up and down in intensity over periods of several days or even a week or more sometimes. The proton storm is an influx of energetic protons directly from the sun into the Earth's poles. One study did an analysis that "indicates a possible relation between the increased arrhythmia cases and the arrival of energetic solar protons in the Earth’s environment"
A study of the possible relation of the cardiac arrhythmias occurrence to the polarity reversal of the solar magnetic field
If anyone is interested in the mechanism by which proton storms could affect the weather, here is a lecture by Gerald Pollack talking about how he thinks a number of weather phenomena are driven by the accumulation of positive charge: Gerald Pollack: Weather and EZ Water -- An Intimate Role of Separated Charge | EU2017
