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Suicides and Mortality from Cardiovascular Diseases Due to Space-Weather Factors in High Latitudes

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify the impacts of the main space-weather factors on suicides and cardiovascular (CVD) mortality in Murmansk oblast (northwestern Russia). Data on a total of 908 suicides and 9057 CVD deaths in the town of Kirovsk (67.6 N; 33.7 E) have been analyzed for the period from 1948 to 2010. The main space-weather factors we consider are solar proton events (SPEs) and geomagnetic disturbance determined by the geomagnetic Ap index. As a result of the application of modern methods of spectral and wavelet analysis (MTM spectra, wavelet decomposition, and cross-wavelet spectra), periodicities corresponding to the main 11-year cycle of solar activity and its 2nd harmonic (5.5 years) are revealed. The results of calculating the wavelet coherence indicate the existence of a close relationship between variations in mortality rates and the main factors of space weather. In the case of CVD, although the influence of geomagnetic disturbance on the mortality rate is present, it is not significant compared with socioeconomic factors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of North Industrial Ecology Problems, Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, 184209, Apatity, Russia

    O. I. Shumilov & E. A. Kasatkina

  2. Polar Geophysical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 184209, Apatity, Russia

    O. I. Shumilov & E. A. Kasatkina

  3. Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, 123242, Moscow, Russia

    N. G. Kleimenova

  4. Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997, Moscow, Russia

    N. G. Kleimenova

  5. Baltic State Technical University, 197372, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. V. Chramov

  6. Research Center for Human Adaptation in the Arctic, Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, 184209, Apatity, Russia

    I. P. Megorskaya

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  1. O. I. Shumilov
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Shumilov, O.I., Kasatkina, E.A., Kleimenova, N.G. et al. Suicides and Mortality from Cardiovascular Diseases Due to Space-Weather Factors in High Latitudes. Izv. Atmos. Ocean. Phys. 56, 799–810 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S000143382008006X

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