A scientific study, carried out by a team of experts from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, has determined that being born at a time of low solar activity is equivalent to a greater probability of living longer (up to five more years on average) ; on the contrary, being born in a highly active solar cycle reduces our life expectancy. The study has been published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The research was based on the demographic data of people born between 1676 and 1878, comparing them with the observations made during those years to our Sun. The results revealed that people born in cycles of solar maximum, characterized by powerful flares and geomagnetic storms, had a life expectancy of 5.2 years less than those born in a period of solar minimum.
Solar maximums, marked by increased coronal mass ejections, sunspots, and flares, are linked to levels of ultraviolet radiation radiation . Thus, this environmental stress can affect survival and reproductive performance. This is the first time that it has been shown that “not only infant survival and therefore lifespan, but also fertility, is associated with solar activity at birth”, the authors explain.
This association between the solar cycle and the moment of birth was even more palpable in females than in males: “ maternal exposure to solar activity during pregnancy can affect the physical condition of girls . The effect of the socio-economic situation on the relationship between solar activity and fertility suggests that high-status pregnant women were able to avoid to a greater extent the adverse effects of high solar activity, possibly by staying out of the Sun or due to a healthier diet ”, they clarify.
