The ionosphere affects the UV striking the earth (among other things) which can be affected by magnetic fields (energy is energy, in this case ‘electrical’). It also acts as a shield from the solar winds and other stuff that’d kill us off quickly so a change in the magnetic pattern has the potential of doing great harm (or at least making great changes) by tweaking our shield alignment and strength.
Rick
From: ChuckB
What is the basis for postulating increased UV? By what mechanism does
the magnetic field affect UV?
Also, the magnetic field mainly deflects low speed particles, which will
be stopped in the upper atmosphere anyway. The maximum threshold
rigidity at low latitudes is about 17 GV, which translates to a few GeV
at most for protons. Since these would be stopped by thin air, the
surface of the planet should only be exposed to a small increase in
secondaries.
OTOH, the upper atmosphere would have more ionization, which could
increase opacity by forming ozone and nitrogen oxides.
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