The most powerful outbreaks in the last 12 years occurred
On September 6 and 7, the most powerful flares in the last 12 years occurred on the Sun. Astronomers claim that such cosmic phenomena provoke failures in technology and telecommunication systems. Realnoe Vremya looked into whether solar flares affect human health by interviewing specialists in various fields of medicine.
A rare event
On September 6, the most powerful flare in the last 12 years occurred on the Sun as a result of the merger of two largest groups of sunspots. The flash was assigned the highest class X9.3. Each solar flare is an explosion with a power of several tens of billions of megatons in TNT equivalent, Lenta.ru reports. The next day, September 7, a second powerful outbreak occurred.
A group of sunspots produced the most powerful solar flare of the current 24th solar cycle. The previous, even more ambitious one, with a power of X17, occurred exactly 12 years ago, on September 7, 2005,” said Almaz Galeev, a senior researcher at the Department of Astronomy and Space Geodesy at KFU. - After the explosion on the Sun, a stream of charged particles headed towards us, the fastest of which usually reach the Earth in 20-25 hours. Over the next two or three days, auroras will likely be observed, and problems may occur in power grids, which could cause failures in telecommunication systems, says Galeev.
According to Roman Zhuchkov, these flares are almost impossible to predict - especially now, during the period of minimum solar activity. Photo kpfu.ru
As Roman Zhuchkov, associate professor of the department of astronomy and space geodesy at KFU, told Realnoe Vremya, these flares are almost impossible to predict, especially now, during the period of minimum solar activity:
Near the maximum solar energy, such flares are expected, although there are only a few flares of such strength per cycle during these periods, says Roman Zhuchkov. - Then you can still predict that they will happen, but when exactly - no. The solar activity cycle is 11 years, now we are near the minimum, when such flares are quite rare. Such things are actively covered by the press - this has more advantages than disadvantages. After all, we must know what kind of world we live in.
It's all about self-hypnosis
Albert Galyavich, chief cardiologist of the Republic of Tatarstan, head of the Republican Center for Cardiovascular Diseases of the International Clinical Clinical Center, told Realnoe Vremya whether this cosmic phenomenon can have an impact on human health:
There is no convincing scientific evidence confirming that magnetic storms affect human health. But this fact can have a psychogenic effect - an additional stress factor, because people are very impressionable and suggestible in general,” says the professor. - I can say for sure that magnetic storms do not affect human health in any way. But when people read that there are magnetic storms today, they focus on their health and begin to convince themselves: yes, magnetic storms, and I will feel bad,” Galyavich is sure.
An indirect confirmation of these words was that the Kazan ambulance station told Realnoe Vremya that the number of calls these days has not increased and doctors are working as usual.
Albert Galyavich: “There is no convincing scientific data confirming that magnetic storms affect human health. But this fact can have a psychogenic effect - an additional stress factor, because people are very impressionable and suggestible in general.” Photo by Maxim Platonov
“It is impossible to exclude a psychological effect”
KSMU professor-psychiatrist Vladimir Mendelevich is of the opposite opinion - that any geomagnetic changes have an impact on human health. But self-hypnosis also recognizes as a factor of ill health:
This reaction is usually in the area of the autonomic nervous system - fluctuations in blood pressure and other changes associated with autonomics, Mendelevich told Realnoe Vremya. - At the same time, if people know that there is a solar flare or some kind of geomagnetic changes, then it is impossible to exclude a psychological effect. The effect will be more pronounced on suggestible and irrational people. The placebo effect is approximately 40%, and it can also be said that information about solar flares or magnetic storms can have a negative impact on health. This effect is complex - in reality, a person can simply experience discomfort, but not attach any importance to it. And a person who expects that his condition may worsen may experience more serious experiences or sensations, says the psychiatrist.
According to Mendelevich, during periods of solar activity, the frequency of calls to him as a specialist does not increase.
There are biological patterns associated with the season - “spring-autumn”, but there is no such thing about geomagnetic storms, says the KSMU professor.
The geriatrician advises pensioners on such days to strictly adhere to the doctor’s recommendations for treating the underlying disease and to take a more careful approach to taking drug therapy. Photo by Maxim Platonov
Rustem Gazizov, chief freelance geriatrician (gerontologist) of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tatarstan, professor of the Department of Therapy and Family Medicine of KSMA, also speaks about the unconfirmation of the influence of solar flares on health:
There are not many in-depth scientific studies on this issue. After all, we are studying problems that depend on us, and solar flares are, as they say, sent by Allah,” says Gazizov. - Solar flares affect many things, but mainly they change the Earth's magnetic field. The state of the cardiovascular system is associated with the magnetic field, so in elderly people, with excessive outbreaks, vascular tone is disturbed, hypertension and coronary heart disease worsen, and the frequency of myocardial infarctions increases.
The geriatrician advises pensioners on such days to strictly adhere to the doctor’s recommendations for treating the underlying disease and to take a more careful approach to taking drug therapy.
And our patients most often ignore doctor’s prescriptions,” the specialist complains. - They skip treatment, reduce the dosage at will, and so on.
Alexander Shakirov, Rustem Shakirov
“I have a headache—probably magnetic storms!” — each of us has heard, and perhaps said, something similar more than once. Scientists regularly warn about the restless behavior of the Sun and subsequent possible disasters. What are these mysterious storms and flares? How do they connect the Earth and the Sun? And is it true that these cataclysms are dangerous for humanity?
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When the luminary is indignant
Periodically, unique releases of light, heat and kinetic energy occur in the solar atmosphere. They are called solar flares. Despite the fact that their duration is short (no more than a few minutes), the amount of energy that is released in the process is enormous. In TNT equivalent it reaches billions of megatons. An average flare generates energy 10 million times (!) greater than the energy of a large volcanic eruption.
In addition to the amazing quantitative indicators, energy manifests itself in many forms. These are, in particular, ultraviolet, optical, x-ray and even gamma radiation, as well as particles (protons and electrons).
Magnetic storms occur on Earth in low (close to the equator) and middle (40 to 60’) latitudes of the planet. What do solar flares have to do with it? The relationship between the phenomena is direct: solar activity generates disturbances in the earth's magnetic field. Charged particles - those same protons and neutrons - are released during flares on the Sun, reach the Earth and, with their intense flow, change its magnetic field.
Storm in the blood
Scientists regularly warn that a large-scale solar flare could lead to catastrophic consequences. What is the danger?
Solar flares have a direct negative impact on astronauts in orbit and on space equipment. Waves of powerful energy penetrate stellar space and can damage instruments and control systems until they completely fail. But, of course, people are exposed to a more serious danger: the significantly increased level of radiation as a result of a solar flare carries the risk of severe radiation exposure for space explorers. Moreover, even airline passengers traveling during certain periods of peak solar activity are likely to be exposed to radiation.
The more significant consequences of solar flares for humanity are, of course, observed on Earth. First of all, geomagnetic fluctuations affect people’s health, and this is a proven fact, and not just attempts to explain another surge in pressure or a sudden headache. Experts have calculated: at times of high solar activity, the number of suicides increases 5 times, and cases of heart attacks and strokes increase by 15%.
Scientists interpret the relationship between magnetic storms and deterioration in well-being this way: a change in the Earth’s magnetic field entails a slowdown in capillary blood flow, an increase in blood density, and as a result, hypoxia (oxygen starvation) occurs in organs and tissues. First of all, all of the above affects the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Hence - hypertensive crises and exacerbations of chronic diseases.
Why hasn’t humanity become extinct yet, if our body is so dependent on solar activity and changes in the geomagnetic environment? Because the body is characterized not only by high sensitivity to external factors, but also by the ability to adapt to recurring phenomena. Solar flares and, as a consequence, magnetic storms repeat with a certain periodicity. And we react only to the strongest of them.
What did the Japanese cedars hide?
Researchers regularly appear in the news about the planet-threatening consequences of solar activity. Constant solar flares may be harbingers of the apocalypse - such a frightening statement was made by scientists at the American Harvard University in June 2017. A month later, NASA researchers reported a future strong solar flare that would have negative consequences for the Earth. The point was that precision equipment could fail, and even volcanic eruptions could occur. The sun can supposedly destroy the Earth in three days - experts from the British University of Reading have proven that an increase in solar activity negatively affects the health of the Earth's population and have come to the conclusion that humanity is absolutely defenseless against the threat.
However, in the history of observations of solar activity there are not only concerns, but also real facts of negative consequences of solar flares, and not only for human health.
The strongest documented flare on the Sun occurred 1.5 centuries ago, on September 1-2, 1859. Among researchers it is known as a flare Carrington. For several days, the sky in the western hemisphere of the Earth was illuminated with crimson light, and at night it was as bright as day. In the tropics and subtropics, people could observe lights reminiscent of the northern lights. Throughout Europe and large parts of North America the telegraph was out of order. At first, observers could not find an explanation for what was happening. Only British astronomer Richard Carrington connected the phenomena occurring on a planetary scale with the solar flares he had observed the day before.
Today, scientists say that events of this magnitude occur at intervals of approximately 500 years. However, eyewitness accounts or researchers’ documents with records of similar manifestations of solar activity preceding the Carrinton flare have not been preserved. However, in 2012, physicists from Japan, and then astronomers from the United States, examined the growth rings of Japanese cedars and came to the conclusion that in the 8th century there was a “super flare” on the Sun, several times more powerful than the “Carrigton event”. Now it would lead to irreversible consequences for our high-tech world.
Solar flares are unique in their strength and power of release of thermal, kinetic and light energy in the solar atmosphere. The duration of solar flares does not exceed just a few minutes, but the colossal amount of energy released has a direct impact on the Earth and on you and me.
Consequences of solar flares
These processes in the sun are powerful explosions that form in the vicinity of large groups of sunspots. The energy of one flare is approximately ten times higher than the energy of one volcano. At the same time, the sun ejects a special substance from its surface, which consists of charged particles. It has supersonic speed and, moving in interplanetary space, creates a shock wave, which, when colliding with our planet, causes magnetic storms.
Each of us reacts differently to solar flares. Many people “feel” them almost immediately, experiencing malaise, severe headaches, problems in the functioning of the cardiovascular system, as well as disturbances in the psycho-emotional background: irritability, increased sensitivity and nervousness. The second group of people have the so-called “delayed reaction”: they react to solar flares 2-3 days after they occur.
Solar flares are bursts of energy in the sun's atmosphere to which people react differently.
Sick and weakened people suffering from surges in blood pressure react most sharply to solar flares. It is known that on days when the sun is active, the number of accidents and disasters caused by the human factor increases. The fact is that flashes in the sun reduce a person’s attention and dull his brain activity.
How to predict solar flares, and are they harmful to humans?
The intensity of solar activity has a 28-day cycle; this figure is related to the rotation of the “hot star” around its axis. During this period, a complex interconnection of higher and lower order cycles occurs. Scientists explain by this fact that solar flares, and, as a consequence, magnetic storms, most often occur in March and April, as well as in September and October.
Solar activity affects people's mental abilities. When the sun is calm, creative people experience elation and inspiration, but when the sun produces flashes, people's attention becomes dull, and they are in a depressed state, close to depression.
Researchers have discovered an interesting fact - it turns out that earthquakes, hurricanes and typhoons are formed precisely at the moment of solar flares. Therefore, in most cases, scientists predict these natural disasters based on their frequency of solar flares.What are the effects of solar flares on humans?
As a result of solar flares, the following reaction to the activity of the star is observed on Earth:
- — infrasound, which occurs at high latitudes, in the regions of the northern lights;
- — micropulsations of our planet, which are short-period changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, they negatively affect the functioning of the human body;
- — as a result of solar flares, the intensity of ultraviolet radiation coming to the surface of our planet changes.
As a result of such reactions of nature to solar flares, the biorhythms of not only humans, but also all living things on Earth change.
Currently, many research institutes, observatories and laboratories are studying the impact of solar flares on the human body and our planet as a whole. Perhaps a detailed study of the behavior of the sun will help us turn its “surprises” to our benefit.
Astronomers have recorded three strong flares on the Sun over the past week. The first of them is called the most powerful in the last twelve years.
How dangerous this astronomical phenomenon is and what consequences it can lead to – read in the selection of the most important facts from the “24” website.
What is a solar flare?
This is a super-powerful process of releasing light, heat and kinetic energy in all layers of the solar atmosphere. It lasts several minutes, releasing billions of megatons of energy in TNT equivalent.
What types are there?
Explosions on the Sun are classified into five types: A, B, C, M, X. A type A flare is characterized by a minimum degree of X-ray radiation - 10 nanowatts per square meter, and each subsequent type is 10 times more intense than the previous one. Class X flares are considered the most powerful and most dangerous. It was in the last few days, and one of them was assigned a score of X9.3.
Class X explosion on the Sun: watch the video
Why does it happen?
A solar flare usually occurs near the neutral line of the magnetic field, which separates the north and south polar regions. Its frequency and power depend on the phase of the solar cycle. Recent flares were noticed in the geoeffective region near the Sun-Earth line, where the influence of the Sun on our planet is maximum.
Why is it dangerous?
Each solar flare produces a cloud of plasma, which, when reaching Earth, can cause magnetic storms. Now on our planet, according to scientists from the Physical Institute of the Academy of Sciences, its power is 10 times greater than expected. Scientists also associate the occurrence of natural disasters such as typhoons, hurricanes and earthquakes with solar flares.
This fact is confirmed by the powerful one that swept through Texas at the end of August, causing severe flooding in Houston, and which has already claimed the lives of 14 people, continuing to rage in the Caribbean Sea. Colossal damage was caused by and, which could develop into a tsunami.
At the height of the storm there were power surges
For several days now, many have been complaining of drowsiness, fatigue, and lack of strength. It's hard to work, hard to live. Especially if you belong to the category of weather-sensitive people.
A series of solar flares of unprecedented force affected all areas of our lives. Scientists seriously declare that solar radiation literally burns out the Earth's magnetic field. Doctors warn about deterioration of health. Physicists predict an increase in fatal transport accidents. And eccentrics advise protecting yourself from unprecedented solar activity with the help of tin foil hats.
A series of flares on the star, which began to occur on September 4, “spitting out” plasma charges, ended only on September 7. The most powerful outbreak was the highest X-class with an index of 9.3, which occurred on September 6. Our planet has not experienced anything like this for the past 12 years. Despite the fact that the main impact of the plasma cloud from X9.3 occurred on September 8 at about 2 a.m. Moscow time, the magnetic storm continued to rage throughout Friday. Meanwhile, the Sun sent another portion of solar wind in pursuit. Will it reach us, have the earth’s electrical networks and radio systems reflected the previous blow? We talked about all this with the staff of the Physics Institute. Lebedev RAS (FIAN).
The X9.3 flare turned out to be so powerful that it reached us 12 hours earlier than expected. The plasma cloud reached the Earth by 2 a.m. Moscow time, causing a magnetic storm with a power of 4 points on a 5-point scale. By 7–8 o'clock in the morning its power had dropped to average and by 17 o'clock it was already noticeable with a slight disturbance of the planet's magnetosphere.
This event combined two factors at once - the clear direction of the solar ejection towards the Earth and its strength, says Sergei Bogachev, a senior researcher at the Lebedev Physical Institute, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. - This happens infrequently and leads to the so-called burning of the magnetic field lines of our planet. Figuratively, this can be represented as a meeting of oppositely directed charges: one flies from the direction of the Sun, the second from the direction of the Earth, and the solar one destroys the earthly one. , opening up deeper access of solar radiation into our atmosphere. One thing can be said for sure: power surges in the power supply networks were definitely present at the height of the storm, but I think modern warning means ensured their uninterrupted operation.
A strong magnetic storm could most likely damage long-range radio communications,” another FIAN employee, Sergei Kuzin, adds to his colleague. - This is due to the fact that during the collision of solar plasma with the radiation fields of the Earth, the ionosphere becomes denser due to an increase in charged particles and interferes with the passage of radio waves. The same reason can disrupt the operation of space satellites that do not have modern, stable electronic components. This mainly concerns small cubesats - satellites less than a meter in size. Large devices will most likely need to be resistant to magnetospheric disturbances.
After talking with Kuzin, we contacted the Russian Space Systems company, which not so long ago sent into flight the second nanosatellite, TNS-02. “Everything is fine with him,” the company’s press service told us, “only today, September 8, he got in touch.” We received the same answer from the Scientific Center for Operational Earth Monitoring (a structure of RKS), which monitors the entire Russian constellation of Earth remote sensing satellites: “The remote sensing system worked normally on September 7 and 8, and no deviations were recorded.”
As for people, experts remembered the possible risk for pilots and passengers flying on airliners over the Arctic Circle when solar plasma meets the radiation belts of our planet. It is believed that the radiation dose to humans at this moment can exceed the annual norm. But, as we see, this does not at all frighten those who specifically fly out to observe the polar lights (they arise along with a magnetic storm).
On Thursday evening, IZMIRAN reported another solar flare that occurred on September 7 at about 6 p.m. It belonged to the same highest class X, but with a lower index - 1. Following it, on September 8, another M-class flare appeared on the luminary. However, according to Bogachev, they can no longer lead to a magnetic storm on our planet, since they “shot” far from the Sun-Earth line, almost on the side of the star hidden from us.
Many people feel the effects of magnetic storms. For some, the reaction will be delayed, that is, the deterioration of well-being will begin after the storm. Some people react with headaches and increased blood pressure exactly during the outbreak hours. According to Galina Kholmogorova, a researcher at the Research Institute of Preventive Medicine, it depends on the person’s temperament, existing chronic diseases, and the medications he takes. “The current storm is really very strong, it feels like the end of the world has come,” says Galina Kholmogorova. - In weather-sensitive people these days, changes in blood pressure, swelling, and increased heart rate are possible. There are also those who react by deteriorating vision. In addition, during magnetic storms, the composition of the blood may change: the amount of hemoglobin and red blood cells, some enzymes, and minerals may decrease. Therefore, these days it is better not to take blood tests for biochemistry - the result may be incorrect. Scientific fact: the cardiovascular system of people born during periods of maximum solar activity reacts more sharply to magnetic storms.”
Scientists are also not mistaken about the increase in the number of accidents. During magnetic storms, our nervous system begins to slow down, reactions become slower, and attention weakens. Even in a healthy person, the reaction can worsen by 3-4 times, emphasizes Galina Kholmogorova. Therefore, it is dangerous to drive on such days.
It has also been proven that during magnetic storms the number of cardiovascular accidents increases. Numerous studies have shown that the largest number of heart attacks occur in the first three days from the development of this phenomenon. A particularly close connection has been established between the development of myocardial infarction and geomagnetic disturbances during the period of moderate magnetic storms. It is very important for all chronically ill patients not to miss taking medications prescribed by their doctor these days.
Storms affect not only the heart and vascular system, but even digestion. At this time, the acidity of gastric juice decreases. This is especially noticeable in cases where magnetic storms occur during the period of the full Moon (as now). Therefore, doctors now advise drinking juices squeezed from fresh vegetables and fruits, salted mineral water or water with lemon juice before each meal. In the evening, it is better to eat foods rich in carbohydrates and refrain from eating before bed. In addition, now you need to include milk, seaweed, fish, legumes, baked beets, jacket potatoes, blueberries, turnips and rhubarb in your menu. Also try to spend more time outdoors, go to the pool. And don't wear clothes made of synthetic materials.
But the most important thing is to reduce all physical activity in the coming days! And this even means going to visit or receiving guests, and even more so doing laundry or repairs. Summer cottages are also a very powerful physical activity, take pity on yourself so that a disaster does not happen. Devote time to rest and peace, says Galina Kholmogorova.
But Galina Kholmogorova calls the folk recipe in the form of a foil hat, which supposedly can protect against solar radiation, complete nonsense: “Solar waves penetrate the entire Earth, no hats can save you from them! There are also crazy people who are trying to escape in the pyramids - this is about the same crazy idea.”