Abstract
A statistical analysis of the relation between exceptional solar events and daily numbers of deaths in the Czech Republic is presented. In particular, we concentrate on diseases of the nervous system (group VI from ICD-10—International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision) and diseases of the circulatory system (group IX from ICD-10). We demonstrate that the neurological diseases exhibit greater instability during the period of rising and falling solar activity. We study the daily numbers of deaths, separately for both sexes and two age groups (under 39 and 40+), during the Solar Cycles No. 23 and No. 24. We focus on exceptionally strong solar events in this period, such as the “Bastille Day event” on 14 July 2000, “Halloween solar storm” on 28 October 2003, and events on 7 January 1997, 2 April 2000, and on 7 September 2005. Special attention is paid to “St. Patrick’s Day storm” on 17 March 2015, the strongest geomagnetic storm of the Solar Cycle No. 24 that occurred following a coronal mass ejection (CME). We investigate the changes in the daily numbers of deaths during 1 month before and 1 month after these exceptional solar events. We take specific storm dynamics of their geophysical parameters into consideration. It has been verified that, for diseases of the nervous system, women are generally more sensitive than men. On the contrary, this differences between men and women have not been found for diseases of the circulatory system. Our findings suggest that the impact of the hazardous space weather conditions on human health depends on the specific dynamic and strength of the solar storm.
Highlights
Received: 27 December 2020The aim of this paper is to statistically examine whether there are changes in daily numbers of deaths during the period one month before and after a severe solar storm.Electromagnetic field has an effect on specific acute conditions of patients with brain, nerve, or heart diseases
Our findings suggest that the impact of the hazardous space weather conditions on human health depends on the specific dynamic and strength of the solar storm
Patrick’s Day event) show a clearer difference in the connection of time series in the comparison of the analyzed periods before and after a solar storm than three solar storms with a less pronounced course. This conclusion is consistent with other studies that show that the impact of solar activity on human health depends on the intensity of the solar events occurring during a given observational period [22,23]
Summary
The aim of this paper is to statistically examine whether there are changes in daily numbers of deaths during the period one month before and after a severe solar storm. Electromagnetic field has an effect on specific acute conditions of patients with brain, nerve, or heart diseases. Two major mechanisms of the influence of solar activity on human health are the effects of magnetic field and the influence of radiation. The direct physical influence of high-energy solar radiation, especially during solar flares, has a global impact on living organisms, as well as on human health [6]. The Schumann resonance is mentioned as a possible influence mechanism of the solar and geomagnetic activity on human health [8,9]
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