By Yevgeny YESKOV, Dr. Sc. (Biol), Russian State Agrarian Extramural University
One of the objectives of ecology as science is to study the biospheric impact of a broad spectrum of electromagnetic fields of both natural and anthropogenic origins. The functioning of organisms, irrespective of complexity, is directly affected by the processes going on at the level of cells and tissues.
During the observable geological period the earth has been subjected to natural electromagnetic impacts of a broad frequency range-from slow ones related to the change of magnetic and electric fields to gamma-radiation. The appearance of their artificial analogs dates back to the second quarter of the 1800s when electric machines were invented and came into use (electric magnets, electric engines, power generators). Presently, their input in the total biospheric effect is comparable to the natural one, occasionally surpassing it*.
Natural electromagnetic phenomena are highly variable in time and space. For example, while on the North Pole of our planet their strength is about 48 A/m and on the South Pole it reaches 56, on the Equator the intensity of these phenomena makes just some meager 32 A/m. However, in the zones of magnetic anomalies which are scattered over the surface of the earth numerously, intensity gradients are largely out of joint. Incidentally, an opinion is held that the location of earth magnetic poles has changed time and again which is probably triggered by processes going on in the earth's bowels.
Our luminary also contributes to the variation of electromagnetic phenomena causing magnetic storms up to 200 gammas strong with distinct 11-year and 27-day cycles. However, the impact of the sun upon our mundane life is not limited to just that. Its ultraviolet radiation influences ionospheric currents determining daily fluctuations of the magnetic field horizontal component reaching 20-30 gammas.
On top of the above, there are also electric fields pr ... Читать далее