On November 4, one of the most powerful magnetic storms in recent years began on Earth. The cause of the disturbance in the planet’s magnetic field was a solar flare. At the same time, one of the largest auroras of the year was recorded. In the new “Point of View”, experts from the Southern Federal University explained what magnetic storms are, what causes them and how they determine our lives.

Astrophysicist on solar activity and its impact on technology

Vladimir Korchagin , Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, chief researcher at the Research Institute of Physics, explained what solar activity is, why solar flares occur and how they affect technology.

The speaker noted that a solar flare is a gigantic explosion on the surface of the Sun. It occurs when magnetic field lines emanating from sunspots “reconnect,” resulting in the release of large amounts of energy. The plasma on the surface of the star is heated from 6000 to 1 million t° within a few minutes, which leads to the emission of electromagnetic waves in the entire electromagnetic range: from radio waves to X-rays and gamma radiation. In this case, the volume of energy released is equivalent to the simultaneous explosion of several million nuclear bombs.

The astrophysicist noted that the first waves of electromagnetic radiation and solar cosmic rays of high energies (over 10 MeV) reach the Earth. They reach our planet approximately 8-12 minutes after a solar flare. After 2-3 days, the accelerated flow of solar wind reaches the Earth’s orbit. It is he who, interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field, causes its disturbances, which are called magnetic storms.

“Scientists ide solar flares into several classes depending on the energy release in them. A magnetic storm caused by solar flares can be strong or weak. X-ray and ultraviolet radiation caused by particularly powerful solar flares leads to disruption of radio communications at high and ultra-high frequencies (3–300 megahertz) and to the appearance of abnormally bright auroras in the Earth’s atmosphere. The consequences of inidual solar flares can be observed within a week,” noted Vladimir Korchagin .

According to the expert, solar emissions that cause magnetic storms lead to malfunctions of Earth satellites and disruptions to shortwave radio stations on the sunlit side of the planet. At the same time, the most powerful and most dangerous are class X solar flares with a radiation flux of over one ten-thousandth of a watt for every square meter of the Earth’s surface. They can lead to serious accidents of satellites, household, marine and air navigation systems.

“Such flares occur on the Sun about ten times a year. Streams of charged particles ejected from the surface of the Sun to cause the greatest “harm” should be directed towards planet Earth, which, fortunately, happens much less frequently,” concluded Vladimir Korchagin .

Geophysicist on the cyclicity of solar flares and the dependence of the Earth’s climate on solar activity

Andrey Kuznetsov , Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Department of Physical Geography, Ecology and Nature Conservation, spoke about the cyclicity of solar activity, its impact on the Earth’s climate and the largest solar flares.

The expert noted that scientists have been observing solar activity for more than 400 years – this has made it possible to identify the cyclical nature of its changes. The most famous and best studied is the 11-year cycle of solar activity. There are also less pronounced cycles of longer duration: double 11-year, secular (80 – 90 years) and others. According to the speaker, the frequency of moderate and strong magnetic storms also depends on solar activity cycles. In the year of minimum solar activity, 1-2 storms occur, in the year of maximum – up to fifty.

“For more than two hundred years, attempts have been made to establish the relationship between the cyclicity of solar activity and the Earth’s climate. Numerous statistical studies indicate the existence of such a relationship. However, its mechanisms remain not entirely clear,” noted Andrey Kuznetsov .

The geophysicist also identified natural processes in which the influence of solar activity can be traced. For example, the ice cover of the Arctic seas and the level of the Caspian Sea depend on the state of the Sun. The influence can also be seen in fluctuations (random deviations in value – approx.) in the temperature of the surface layer of water in the equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean. This is periodically accompanied, on the one hand, by heavy rains in the Atacama Desert, on the other, by severe droughts in the monsoon regions of Australia and India (El Niño phenomenon), etc. According to the expert, the water content of the Don River also depends on the activity of the Sun.

“In years with an active Sun, especially when maxima overlap in the secular and 11-year cycles, subtropical centers of high atmospheric pressure and subpolar centers of low atmospheric pressure, as a rule, intensify over the oceans, which, in turn, leads to increasing the frequency of transfer of air masses from the Atlantic and filling the Don and Volga with water,” commented Andrey Kuznetsov .

The speaker noted that the most powerful magnetic storm in the entire history of observations was observed on September 1-2, 1859. It was caused by a series of large solar flares and led to the failure of telegraph systems throughout Europe and North America. In those days, auroras were observed in all geographic latitudes, including equatorial latitudes. Magnetic storms of this magnitude occur approximately once every 500 years. Significantly less strong, but also notable storms were recorded in 1921, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1989 and 2003. Against their background, the magnetic storm of November 4, 2021 does not particularly stand out.

The long history of observations of solar activity has taught us to predict the occurrence of magnetic storms no more than about two days in advance. Those. not earlier than the moment of the appearance of sunspots and flares on the Sun, emissions of matter from the solar atmosphere and corona, observed from the Earth.

“As for the processes on the Sun themselves that cause their appearance, these processes still need to be better studied and understood before we can talk about predicting them. However, retrospective observations allow us to reasonably expect an increase in solar activity in the next 4–5 years in an 11-year cycle and in the coming decades in a secular cycle,” concluded Andrey Kuznetsov .

Physiologist on weather dependence and the impact of magnetic storms on human health

Oksana Kundupyan , Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Department of Human and Animal Physiology, spoke about the influence of solar activity on human health, weather dependence in people and the psychological impact of magnetic storm calendars.

The expert noted that the issue of the impact of geomagnetic storms on human health is controversial in the scientific literature. At the moment, there are two points of view on this problem: 1. Geomagnetic storms cause a cascade of negative physiological reactions that negatively affect human health; 2. Geomagnetic storms do not have a significant impact on human health in general.

Adherents of the first theory are mainly domestic researchers, followers of Chizhevsky’s works. In their opinion, changes in the Earth’s magnetic field under the influence of solar activity lead to increased blood pressure, decreased performance, headaches, increased anxiety and exacerbation of chronic diseases, including allergies, not only in weather-sensitive people, but even in healthy people.

“Indeed, some studies have demonstrated the influence of a magnetic field on living organisms (some species of plants and animals) and the work of inidual enzymes. The mechanism of this influence still remains unclear,” commented Oksana Kundupyan .

The adherents of the second theory include domestic and most foreign scientists. They are skeptical about the existence of a connection between disturbances in the geomagnetic field and subjectively perceived deviations in the health of the population. Scientists refer to the lack of reliable statistics in existing studies, the heterogeneity of groups of subjects (different ages, different health conditions) and the lack of control samples where long-term observations of body parameters were carried out.

“In addition, there are works that have shown the absence of a connection between geomagnetic activity and the incidence of certain diseases and the risk of mortality from stroke or coronary heart disease,” noted Oksana Kundupyan .

According to the physiologist, magnetic storm calendars and warnings published in the media can have a psychological impact on impressionable people with diseases. The speaker emphasizes that the accuracy of these calendars is questionable, because magnetic storms can be predicted no more than 2-3 days in advance. Therefore, the published schedule of magnetic storms a month in advance is, as a rule, pure quackery.

“Thus, we can talk about the presence of magnetic sensitivity of inidual systems of the human body (the mechanism of which is not yet known), but there is no reason to associate geomagnetic activity with risks to human health and life,” concluded Oksana Kundupyan .