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

IV. D iscussion The given examples convincingly prove the existence of an influence of cosmic radiation flux on neoplasm mortality. The problem of the mechanism of the described influence remains unclear. A hypothesized mechanism of this influence is outlined below, answering many of the questions that arise. 1. An observed phenomenon – mortality from many diseases in the statistics of many countries located mainly in the 30°N – 60°N band, is strongly correlated with fluxes of positively charged particles with energy of the order of 4 – 21 MeV, recorded by the GOES series satellites in Earth orbit. 2. The recorded alpha particle flows are mostly pulses with a duration of less than 5 minutes (the averaging interval of the recording device). 3. Proposed hypothesis – positively charged particles with high energy penetrate through the Earth's atmosphere to the Earth's surface and damage human health, causing death mainly in elderly people. 4. As the average altitude of the affected countries increases, the particle flux-correlated mortality shows an increasing trend [4, 10]. It is probably due to the more intense radiation flux penetrating the thinner atmosphere over the mountainous region of Earth's surface – an argument favoring the hypothesis. 5. The source of the flows of positively charged particles is the Sun – mortality increases with observable processes on the Sun – from Solar Mass Ejections directed to Earth (a phenomenon on the solar surface that could be observed with other astronomical means) [4, 8]. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) on the International Space Station measures cosmic rays, excluding those of solar origin (when shielded from the Sun by the station's solar panels). In particular, it measures the flow of 3He and 4He (alpha particles) in cosmic rays. The measurements show [30] increasing annual flux of alpha particles in cosmic rays for the interval of years from 2011 to 2017 (last available data), while the flux of GOES registered (solar?) alpha particles for the same interval of years is decreasing (Figures 2 and 9 for example). Indirect evidence for the Sun as a source of high-energy alpha particles is that this assumption convincingly explains the downstream processes that ultimately lead to death. 6. Positively charged solar particles capable of penetrating through the Earth's atmosphere to the Earth's surface are high-energy alpha particles. Calculators PSTAR [28] and ASTAR [29] calculate the penetration parameters of protons, respectively alpha particles in different substances, in particular in air. Calculations with data for a homogeneous atmosphere – an atmospheric model with constant density, temperature, and pressure decreasing with height [4] show that only particles whose energy is above 2.4 GeV for protons and over 6.2 GeV for alpha particles can penetrate the Earth's atmosphere to the surface. There are no registered by GOES satellites protons above 0.7 GeV, but there are registered alpha particles with energy above 3.4 GeV, hypothetically also those with energy above 6.2 GeV [4, 10, and 12], i.e. the particles that penetrate to the Earth's surface are probably high-energy alpha particles. Only fluxes of alpha particles with a magnitude of at least (1000 particles).cm -2 .s -1 .sr -1 .MeV -1 is correlated with the mortality of the Earth's surface. 7. It is assumed that the alpha particles recorded by the satellites were emitted simultaneously with the hypothetical fast alpha particles in a common explosive process (flares?) on the solar surface. It can be calculated that particles with an energy of 7 GeV need 8.87 min to reach the Earth's surface from the Sun's surface, and registered by satellites particles with energies of 5 – 10 MeV travel about 2 hours. The registered alpha particles do not have enough energy to penetrate the atmosphere, unlike the hypothetical fast alpha particles that reach the surface of the Earth in minutes from the center of the solar disk. However, the registered alpha particles are an indicator that two hours earlier there was an irradiation of the Earth's surface with fast (unregistered) alpha particles. 8. Although alpha particle streams irradiate the entire illuminated part of the atmosphere, penetration of fast alpha particles to the surface occurs only in a limited area of the surface (death spot), for which two conditions favoring penetration are combined: a. The Sun is culminating for the center of the death spot. During the year, the apparent position of the Sun relative to the point of observation shifts, so that the maximum angle of elevation of the Sun's disk above the horizon (solar culmination at local noon) changes depending on the date. The latitude and longitude of a point on the Earth's surface where the solar disk is at its culmination at that moment of registration of the incoming alpha particle flow – the point of registration, can be determined from the date (latitude), and the hours and minutes of registration (longitude). The center of the dead spot can be calculated – it is approximately 30° east of the registration point [10]. The Earth’s angular velocity is 15° per hour. Figure 10 shows the registration points for cases of intense alpha radiation fluxes with an intensity of at least 1000 cm -2 .s -1 .sr -1 .MeV -1 for 1974 and 1975. They are located on meridians located about 30° westward of meridional bands of high correlation between alpha particle fluxes and Global Journal of Science Frontier Research ( A ) XXIV Issue IV Version I Year 2024 28 © 2024 Global Journals Solar Alpha Particle Radiation Increases Human Mortality – Examples from the Neoplasms Mortality in the Europe and Mediterranean