Welcome to the latest episode of Unlocking Your Greatness with Wendy Bjork.
As an international bestselling author, nationally syndicated columnist, inspirational speaker and founder of heartsofwellness.com, it is my mission to empower women to build a strong Foundation of Wellbeing: One Whole-istic™ Step at a Time. To feel HOPE: harmony, options, peace and empowerment to help others along the way.
How Do Solar Flares Affect Humans?
The Northern Lights are spectacular, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to solar storms. The explosions of radiation ejected from the Sun, known as solar flares, can affect our planet’s atmosphere and disrupt satellites, radio communications, and power grids. More troublingly, they can also irritate astronauts or passengers in high-flying spacecraft, as well as deform the Earth’s magnetic field (making it hard to use your compass).
We often don’t pay attention to the announcements until our electronics fail to work properly, but solar storms have been occurring for million of years.
Scientists haven’t figured out exactly how these solar flares cause their effects, but we know that their electromagnetic radiation interferes with radio waves in the lower layers of our atmosphere. They also create ionization, which can energize particles and make it harder for them to reach the higher layers where radio signals normally travel. This can disrupt satellites and radio communication systems, including Global Positioning System devices.
Flares are most often caused by the physical process of magnetic reconnection, where magnetic fields cross over each other and reconnect. The biggest events, known as X-class flares, are awesome to watch as huge loops of plasma leap up off the solar surface, releasing energy equivalent to billions of hydrogen bombs. These flares are accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), clouds of plasma that can be directed toward the Earth and disrupt our planet’s magnetic field, damaging electronic equipment.
Solar flares are accompanied by bursts of X-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation that can affect our upper atmosphere, disturbing the Earth’s magnetosphere and ionosphere. This can interfere with radio communications by causing the transmissions to lose energy, especially at wavelengths that are used in radio frequencies on the sunlit side of the Earth. The effects are most pronounced on high-frequency radio transmissions, such as HF (3-30 MHz), but can spill over into Very High Frequency (VHF) frequencies, too.
In addition, a flare may produce a magnetic shock wave that can disrupt the magnetic fields of Earth’s upper atmosphere. This can cause our GPS satellites to lose lock on their signals, as well as interfering with other GPS-enabled devices on the ground.
A flare can also affect our circadian rhythm, affecting our sleep cycles and reducing our ability to regulate glucose, leading to diabetes-like symptoms. It can also cause headache, palpitations and a general feeling of un-wellness. It can even increase the risk of heart attack in patients taking blood thinners.
To reduce the risks of these effects, hydrate with water, and eat plenty of antioxidant-rich foods like berries, beets, dark leafy greens, chocolate and red wine. Be aware of the toxins in your home, office and kitchen. Turn off your electronics at least an hour before you’re ready to sleep to reduce your overall impact.
To support you on creating a path to your dream life, download your copy of the Hearts of Wellness 30-Day Journal + Blueprint Bundle Towards Living Your Best Life at heartsofwellness.com/you. It will support you in keeping your desired outcomes all in one place along with the Blueprint which will help you take small steps daily towards a better view of yourself. Benefit from improved self-talk, as well as writing your weekly gratitude list and celebrating your weekly wins. Discovering and living by your personalized playbook are important steps we can create together!
If you feel a self-paced approach with Wendy’s support would be helpful in reaching your goals, you can head over to the Hearts of Wellness Membership Collective and begin your journey back to simplicity, freedom and wholeness!
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