Geophysical hazard for human health in the circumpolar auroral belt: Evidence of a relationship between heart rate variation and electromagnetic disturbances

Geomagnetic storms are a natural hazard to human health in the Auroral Belt of the Circumpolar. Geomagnetic disturbances in space, and the associated short-term variations in the atmosphere and the geophysical environment, pr ovoke a disturbance of nervous and cardiovascular systems in the human body . The Heart Rate Variability (HRV) method provides a momentary response of human organisms to short-term geophysical perturbations related to the Pola r Aurora. A pilot project was performed in the Murmansk region in 1997-1999 with a contemporaneous series of records for both HRV in a test group of l ocal inhabitants and the variations of natural geomagnetic fields. A correl ation between geomagnetic disturbances and heart rate was calculated and di fferent reactions of people on geophysical impact were shown. The special g roup of 'Aurora Disturbance Sensitive People' (ADSP) was revealed. An inter national study, aimed at evaluation of the impact on human health due to ex posure of northern populations to the geophysical risk factor (GRF) in the Circumpolar areas located under the Aurora Belt, is needed.