Cosmic rays, solar activity, and changes in the Earth’s climate

2017 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. I. Stozhkov ◽  
G. A. Bazilevskaya ◽  
V. S. Makhmutov ◽  
N. S. Svirzhevsky ◽  
A. K. Svirzhevskaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Activity ◽  
Cosmic Rays ◽  
Earth’S Climate

Features of 27-day variations of galactic cosmic rays and of solar activity

1999 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.V Alania ◽  
E.S Vernova ◽  
M.I Tyasto ◽  
D.G Baranov
Keyword(s):  
Solar Activity ◽  
Cosmic Rays ◽  
Galactic Cosmic Rays

Influence of supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, solar flares, and cosmic rays on the terrestrial environment

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnon Dar
Keyword(s):  
Solar Activity ◽  
Cosmic Rays ◽  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Gamma Ray Bursts ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Terrestrial Environment ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Threat To Life

Changes in the solar neighbourhood due to the motion of the sun in the Galaxy, solar evolution, and Galactic stellar evolution influence the terrestrial environment and expose life on the Earth to cosmic hazards. Such cosmic hazards include impact of near-Earth objects (NEOs), global climatic changes due to variations in solar activity and exposure of the Earth to very large fluxes of radiations and cosmic rays from Galactic supernova (SN) explosions and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Such cosmic hazards are of low probability, but their influence on the terrestrial environment and their catastrophic consequences, as evident from geological records, justify their detailed study, and the development of rational strategies, which may minimize their threat to life and to the survival of the human race on this planet. In this chapter I shall concentrate on threats to life from increased levels of radiation and cosmic ray (CR) flux that reach the atmosphere as a result of (1) changes in solar luminosity, (2) changes in the solar environment owing to the motion of the sun around the Galactic centre and in particular, owing to its passage through the spiral arms of the Galaxy, (3) the oscillatory displacement of the solar system perpendicular to the Galactic plane, (4) solar activity, (5) Galactic SN explosions, (6) GRBs, and (7) cosmic ray bursts (CRBs). The credibility of various cosmic threats will be tested by examining whether such events could have caused some of the major mass extinctions that took place on planet Earth and were documented relatively well in the geological records of the past 500 million years (Myr). A credible claim of a global threat to life from a change in global irradiation must first demonstrate that the anticipated change is larger than the periodical changes in irradiation caused by the motions of the Earth, to which terrestrial life has adjusted itself. Most of the energy of the sun is radiated in the visible range. The atmosphere is highly transparent to this visible light but is very opaque to almost all other bands of the electromagnetic spectrum except radio waves, whose production by the sun is rather small.

scholarly journals Effects of solar activity and galactic cosmic ray cycles on the modulation of the annual average temperature at two sites in southern Brazil

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 555-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Everton Frigo ◽  
Francesco Antonelli ◽  
Djeniffer S. S. da Silva ◽  
Pedro C. M. Lima ◽  
Igor I. G. Pacca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Activity ◽  
Cosmic Rays ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Galactic Cosmic Rays ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Solar Cycles ◽  
Annual Average ◽  
Average Temperature ◽  
Weather Stations ◽  
Annual Average Temperature

Abstract. Quasi-periodic variations in solar activity and galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) on decadal and bidecadal timescales have been suggested as a climate forcing mechanism for many regions on Earth. One of these regions is southern Brazil, where the lowest values during the last century were observed for the total geomagnetic field intensity at the Earth's surface. These low values are due to the passage of the center of the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly (SAMA), which crosses the Brazilian territory from east to west following a latitude of ∼ 26∘. In areas with low geomagnetic intensity, such as the SAMA, the incidence of GCRs is increased. Consequently, possible climatic effects related to the GCRs tend to be maximized in this region. In this work, we investigate the relationship between the ∼ 11-year and ∼ 22-year cycles that are related to solar activity and GCRs and the annual average temperature recorded between 1936 and 2014 at two weather stations, both located near a latitude of 26∘ S but at different longitudes. The first of these stations (Torres – TOR) is located in the coastal region, and the other (Iraí – IRA) is located in the interior, around 450 km from the Atlantic Ocean. Sunspot data and the solar modulation potential for cosmic rays were used as proxies for the solar activity and the GCRs, respectively. Our investigation of the influence of decadal and bidecadal cycles in temperature data was carried out using the wavelet transform coherence (WTC) spectrum. The results indicate that periodicities of 11 years may have continuously modulated the climate at TOR via a nonlinear mechanism, while at IRA, the effects of this 11-year modulation period were intermittent. Four temperature maxima, separated by around 20 years, were detected in the same years at both weather stations. These temperature maxima are almost coincident with the maxima of the odd solar cycles. Furthermore, these maxima occur after transitions from even to odd solar cycles, that is, after some years of intense GCR flux. The obtained results offer indirect mathematical evidence that solar activity and GCR variations contributed to climatic changes in southern Brazil during the last century. A comparison of the results obtained for the two weather stations indicates that the SAMA also contributes indirectly to these temperature variations. The contribution of other mechanisms also related to solar activity cannot be excluded. Keywords. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (climatology)

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