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Impact of the geomagnetic field and solar radiation on climate change

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Abstract

Recent studies have shown that, in addition to the role of solar variability, past climate changes may have been connected with variations in the Earth’s magnetic field elements at various timescales. An analysis of variations in geomagnetic field elements, such as field intensity, reversals, and excursions, allowed us to establish a link between climate changes at various timescales over the last millennia. Of particular interest are sharp changes in the geomagnetic field intensity and short reversals of the magnetic poles (excursions). The beginning and termination of the examined geomagnetic excursions can be attributed to periods of climate change. In this study, we analyzed the possible link between short-term geomagnetic variability (jerks) and climate change, as well as the accelerated drift of the north magnetic pole and surface temperature variations.

The results do not rule out the possibility that geomagnetic field variations which modulate the cosmic ray flux could have played a major role in climate change in addition to previously induced by solar radiation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    V. A. Dergachev & S. S. Vasiliev

  2. Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere, and Radiowave Propagation, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    O. M. Raspopov

  3. University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    H. Jungner

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  1. V. A. Dergachev
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  2. S. S. Vasiliev
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  3. O. M. Raspopov
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  4. H. Jungner
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Correspondence to V. A. Dergachev.

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Dergachev, V.A., Vasiliev, S.S., Raspopov, O.M. et al. Impact of the geomagnetic field and solar radiation on climate change. Geomagn. Aeron. 52, 959–976 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016793212080063

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