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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Is there any plausible mechanism for solar flares affecting health?
« on: 21/02/2024 09:18:10 »
It is known that some birds navigate via magnetic fields (and most birds fly not much higher than ground level).
- So some birds could get lost (or perhaps suffer vertigo) from changing geomagnetic fields.
During the Carrington event in 1859, currents induced in long-distance telegraph lines reportedly caused electrical shocks to telegraph operators, and caused some fires.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event#Telegraphs
Today we are far more dependent on long-distance conductors than in the 1850s - for electrical power transmission, water, oil and gas pipelines. A small flare in March 1989 took out mains power in Quebec for 10 hours; there could be severe loss of life if there were an extended power and communications outage during the depths of winter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1989_geomagnetic_storm#Quebec_power_blackout
It appears that Schumann resonance is a real thing, and is continually randomly triggered by random lightning strikes around the world, with a fundamental frequency around 7.8Hz, with harmonics extending up to 34Hz.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schumann_resonances#Basic_theory
It is conceivable that this Schumann resonance could be triggered in a coherent way by geomagnetic storms (as distinct from random excitation from lightning), but the main frequencies of geomagnetic storms are around 0.0001 Hz to 0.004 Hz (ie the milliHertz band). The wavelength of these disturbances is far too long to resonate in the cavity of the Earth's ionosphere.
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9794666
- So some birds could get lost (or perhaps suffer vertigo) from changing geomagnetic fields.
During the Carrington event in 1859, currents induced in long-distance telegraph lines reportedly caused electrical shocks to telegraph operators, and caused some fires.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event#Telegraphs
Today we are far more dependent on long-distance conductors than in the 1850s - for electrical power transmission, water, oil and gas pipelines. A small flare in March 1989 took out mains power in Quebec for 10 hours; there could be severe loss of life if there were an extended power and communications outage during the depths of winter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1989_geomagnetic_storm#Quebec_power_blackout
It appears that Schumann resonance is a real thing, and is continually randomly triggered by random lightning strikes around the world, with a fundamental frequency around 7.8Hz, with harmonics extending up to 34Hz.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schumann_resonances#Basic_theory
It is conceivable that this Schumann resonance could be triggered in a coherent way by geomagnetic storms (as distinct from random excitation from lightning), but the main frequencies of geomagnetic storms are around 0.0001 Hz to 0.004 Hz (ie the milliHertz band). The wavelength of these disturbances is far too long to resonate in the cavity of the Earth's ionosphere.
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9794666
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