lobal Journal of Science Frontier Research, A: Physics and Space Science, Volume 24 Issue 4

Data on alpha-particle and proton fluxes (unit: (number of particles).cm -2 .s -1 .sr -1 .MeV -1 ) with energies of the range 3.8 – 21.3 MeV were used. The fluxes were recorded by the satellite high-energy particle detectors: 1. Energetic Particles Sensor (EPS), and 2. Energetic Proton, Electron, and Alpha Detector (EPEAD). The data are available averaged over a 5-minute interval, during which there are up to 25 reports of the instrument. c) Data processing The correlation coefficients [26] between the annual averaged alpha radiation flux and the annual mortality rate were calculated. Maps were created showing (with black isolines) the distribution of the annual mortality for 353 NUTS-2 European regions from the EUROSTAT shortlist death causes: “Neoplasms” (EUROSTAT mortality shortlist number 8), “Malignant neoplasms (C00-C97)” (shortlist number 9), and “Other malignant neoplasms (remainder of C00-C97)” (shortlist number 31) for 2012, the year with the highest solar activity (and mortality) in the studied time interval 2011 – 2019. Below the three groups of causes are collectively referred to as "neoplasms". With red isolines, the maps show the distribution across the territory of Europe and the Mediterranean of the correlation coefficient between the annual mortality rate from neoplasms with the annually averaged alpha particle flux for the time interval 2011 – 2019. Data on the coordinates, latitude, and longitude [Google Earth] of the centroids of the NUTS-2 regions included in the study were used in the map. Mapping was performed with Golden Software Surfer10. The kriging interpolation procedure was selected. In mathematical statistics, the level of statistical significance [26] is a parameter, indicating the degree of reliability of the calculated correlation coefficient. The smaller the number of this parameter, the more reliably the correlation coefficient is established, i.e. the more reliably a cause-and-effect relationship has been established, in the case between the annual flux of solar alpha radiation and mortality from causes of neoplasms. The correlation coefficient and the level of statistical significance are related. For the 9 years included in the study, a minimum correlation coefficient of 0.668 corresponds to a statistical significance level of 0.05 [26]. In scientific studies, a level of statistical significance no greater than 0.05 is accepted as a criterion for the reliability of the correlation coefficient. The red isolines on the correlation coefficient distribution in the map enclose the regions with statistically significant values of the correlation coefficients around and up to a significance level of 0.05. Correlation coefficients with a significance level above 0.05 are of high reliability (the higher the number, the lower the significance level) i.e. the existence of a causal relationship between cosmic alpha radiation and mortality from the causes of neoplasms can be considered reliably established in the mentioned areas enclosed by red isolines of the correlation coefficient. If there is a coincidence for some of the maxima for mortality rate and correlation coefficients, then in the region of these maxima, the impact of alpha radiation contributes noticeably to the mortality from neoplasms. To the extent that the hypothetical mechanism proposed below explaining the observed phenomenon assumes that charged particles of high energy pass through the atmosphere and reach the Earth’s surface, the energy required for this was calculated from databases and calculators PSTAR and ASTAR [27, 28]. Geomagnetic field data were obtained from the INTERMAGNET site [29]. III. R esults The described dangerous phenomenon is observed in the form of dependence between the annual average flux of radiation from positively charged particles (protons and alpha particles) with high kinetic energy, recorded by satellites in orbit around the Earth, and the annual mortality rate in the statistics of several countries from all continents in the Northern Hemisphere. The countries in whose mortality statistics the phenomenon is observed are located in a band parallel to the equator with approximate boundaries along the parallels of 30° and 60° north latitudes. It is observed in the annual mortality statistics of small countries. It is not noticeable in the statistics of large countries in the same band. It can be inferred that the impact on the Earth's surface is short-lived and over a limited area the size of a small country, but is masked in large country statistics because it does not affect the entire area of the large country at the same time. This conclusion is confirmed for the USA, for which there is data on mortality in individual states [10]. The mortality statistic of the European Union is suitable for the study because it is based on statistical regions, smaller than a country, but still big enough, to include a statistically sufficient number of inhabitants. This phenomenon would be expected to influence mortality in countries south of the Equator, however, the mortality statistics for them are scarce, unreliable, or absent, preventing reliable inferences about such an influence in the Southern Hemisphere. For particle energies of the order of 3.8 – 21.3 MeV, the year-averaged fluxes of protons and alpha particles are highly correlated, i.e. the studied phenomenon of lethality is noticeable in both the mean proton flux and the mean alpha particle flux data. For the reason explained below, only the average flux of high- energy alpha particles is included as the incident radiation in the next examples. With black isolines, Figure 1 shows the distribution of the mortality rate for EUROSTAT shortlist death cause „Other malignant neoplasms (remainder of Global Journal of Science Frontier Research ( A ) XXIV Issue IV Version I Year 2024 22 © 2024 Global Journals Solar Alpha Particle Radiation Increases Human Mortality – Examples from the Neoplasms Mortality in the Europe and Mediterranean