Is solar hibernation harmful to humans?

Answer 1

Harmful to humans: Exposure of human skin to solar radiation can result in skin damage and cancers due to the ionizing wavelengths (ultraviolet) of light present. Likewise the ionizing wavelengths can result in damage to the outer layers of the eye, and can be involved in stimulation of cataracts and cancers. Imaging the Sun through the eye onto the retina can result in temporary or permanent blindness due to high energies present in the collection of wavelengths that pass through the cornea and lens (near infrared through visible and near ultraviolet). Imaging reflections of sunlight onto the retina can have similar effects. Solar radiaion of low lying atmospheric pollutants from combustion can result in ozone production which causes Asthma, resulting in sickness or even death in sensitive people. Solor radiation of the ground and lower levels of atmosphere can increase environmental temperatures, which is dangerous in some cases to people. Solar heating of a person, even when the person protected by clothing from the direct radiation, can result in heat stroke and possibly death.

Harmful in general: Ionizing wavelengths in solar radiation can break down many materials including natural and man-made materials. Optical wavelengths (typically considered "non-ionizing", even though ionization still occurs) can cause changes in chemicals. Solar heating may be detrimental in many cases.

Finally, note that many of the properties of solar radiation that can be result in harm are harnessed for decidedly beneficial purposes by plants, animals (including humans), and human industry.

Answer 2

Probably, yes. The Sun goes in an obvious 11-year cycle of activity that we call the "sunspot cycle"; the number of sunspots increases and decreases in a cycle that averages about 11 years long.

But the last solar cycle lasted more than a year longer before the next cycle began; for almost three years there were very few sunspots. (In 2009, there were 261 days with NO sunspots!) Now the sunspot cycle seems to have started, but even now, a year and a half in, there are not many sunspots, and there seem to be interesting indications that the Sun's cycle may be declining again. It will be a while - years, perhaps - before we know for sure.

There was a 70-year long stretch of very few sunspots, from the mid-1600s until 1720. We call this the "Maunder Minimum", named for an astronomer who noted it. We don't know if it was a coincidence or if the low sunspot numbers may have had some influence, but that was also the period that historians called the "Little Ice Age".

IF the Sun is going into another spell of extended dormancy, and IF there is a connection, then the entire "global warming" debate may be moot; we may be looking at a sustained "global cooling".

Warm weather isn't a significant threat; if Canada and Russia get a little warmer, those nations have plenty of land where we can plant wheat and corn. Lots of food is good. But if the world were to cool by just a few degrees, states like the Dakotas and nations like Germany could find themselves unable to feed themselves. And if the world were to cool by more than 10 degrees, we could see the glaciers re-forming in northern Canada and start to march south again.

In the last REAL Ice Age, a sheet of ice nearly a mile thick covered Minnesota and Wisconsin, stretching as far south as central Illinois. (There's a ridge of hills all across the great plains, called the "terminal moraine" - where the glaciers stopped pushing rocks south.) Glaciers and cold mean fewer crops, and smaller harvests; that means less food. Less food with as many people as there are in the world is a recipe for wars. "Solar hibernation" may not be bad for humans - but starvation and war certainly ARE bad for humans!

Answer 3

Not directly. Not even the largest and most powerful solar flares within the last several thousand years have had any direct impact on people. However, solar flares CAN have an impact on our technology - and our technology can affect billions of people.

For example, a really enormous solar flare and the resulting Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that would not directly harm any person could cause havoc in our electronic and electrical systems. By disrupting electrical power systems, a flare and CME could throw millions of people into the dark, disrupt communications, and snarl up the truck and train systems that deliver food. Power failures in hospitals could cause thousands of immediate deaths, and the failure of pumps could deprive millions of people of water. Our technology might be immediately set back to 1850's levels - except that we have about ten times too many people to support with 1850's technology, and very few people know HOW to use 1850's tech. Do you know how to saddle a horse? Can you make a fire without matches? Can you slaughter your own sheep and cattle?

Answer 4

No. Solar energy is completely harmless. Unless you account for the the question of where does the energy go after it has been gathered.

Hope this helps.