Abstract
A systematic review of heliobiological studies of the last 25 years devoted to the study of the potential influence of space weather factors on human health and well-being was carried out. We proposed three criteria (coordinates), according to which the work on solar–biospheric relations was systematized: the time scale of data sampling (years, days, hours, minutes); the level of organization of the biological system under study (population, group, individual, body system); and the degree of system response (norm, adaptation, failure of adaptation (illness), disaster (death)). This systematic review demonstrates that three parameters mentioned above are closely related in the existing heliobiological studies: the larger the selected time scale, the higher the level of estimated biological system organization and the stronger the potential response degree is. The long-term studies are devoted to the possible influence of solar activity on population disasters, i.e., significant increases in morbidity and mortality. On a daily scale, a probable effect of geomagnetic storms and other space weather events on short-term local outbreaks of morbidity is shown as well as on cases of deterioration in people functional state. On an intraday scale, in the regular functioning mode, the heart and brain rhythms of healthy people turn to be synchronized with geomagnetic field variations in some frequency ranges, which apparently is the necessary organism’s existence element. The applicability of different space weather indices at different data sampling rates, the need to take into account the contribution of meteorological factors, and the prospects for an individual approach in heliobiology are discussed. The modern important results of experiments on modeling the action of magnetic storms in laboratory conditions and the substantiation of possible theoreical mechanisms are described. These results provide an experimental and theoretical basis for studies of possible connections of space weather and human health.
Highlights
Systematizing the Question and Setting the ProblemHeliobiology studies the possible impact of space weather (SpW) factors, including solar activity (SA), heliospheric and geomagnetic processes, on biological systems at different levels, from individual cells to populations and ecosystems.The foundation of heliobiology as a science, with the formulation of its goals, tasks, and methods, was laid 100 years ago by the works of A.L
A specific reaction occurred as a change in vascular tone, which is typical for meteotropic reactions
A specific and a nonspecific reaction to geomagnetic storms
Summary
Heliobiology studies the possible impact of space weather (SpW) factors, including solar activity (SA), heliospheric and geomagnetic processes, on biological systems at different levels, from individual cells to populations and ecosystems. The objectives of this work were to systematize the results obtained over the past 25 years on the possible responses of various human physiological systems to SpW factors in different time scales, while paying special attention to precisely reversible, noncatastrophic reactions, since there is every reason to assume that such reactions are variants of the norm—less pronounced than illness or death, but practically comprehensive. According to the scientific concepts of that time, sunspots through special radiation could reach Earth’s surface, influencing living beings These two circumstances—the goal and the ideas about the possible mechanisms—determined the popularity in heliobiology, first of all, of solar indices. The beginning of a broad scientific discussion of these aspects and the development of generally accepted criteria is an actual task, since their absence at present greatly complicates the comparison of the results obtained by different researchers
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