Hyperglycemia negatively affects cardiovascular variables that are also adversely affected by increased geomagnetic activity. It is likely that geomagnetic storms (GS) could have a stronger negative impact on these patients. We analyzed data on 1548 randomly selected patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who were admitted inpatient treatment in Kaunas city, during 2000-2003. We evaluated the associations of GS, solar proton events (SPE), and high-speed solar wind (HSSW) (solar wind speed ≥600 km/s) with the risk of ACS in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and the metabolic syndrome (MS) by using logistic regression with categorical predictors. During days of HSSW, the risk of ACS in DM patients increased by 1.95 times (OR = 1.95, 95 % CI 1.36-2.79) as compared to days without either of these events or 2 days prior to or after them. In the multivariate model, the risk of ACS in DM patients was associated with days of HSSW and 1-2 days after (OR = 1.40, 95 % CI 1.01-1.93), with days of GS lasting >1 day and occurring on days of HSSW or 1-2 days after (OR = 2.31, 95 % CI 1.28-4.17), and with the onset of SPE (OR = 2.72 (1.09-6.83)). The risk of ACS in MS patients was associated with days of GS and 1-2 days prior or after GS (OR = 1.31 (1.00-1.73)); an additional impact was established if these days coincided with days of HSSW or 1-2 days before (OR = 2.16 (1.39-3.35)). These findings suggest that not only GS but also HSSW and changes in space weather conditions prior to SPE affect the human cardiovascular system.

The effects of charged solar particles hitting the Earth’s magnetosphere are often harmful and can be dangerous to the human organism. The aim of this study was to analyze the associations of geomagnetic storms (GSs) and other space weather events (solar proton events (SPEs), solar flares (SFs), high-speed solar wind (HSSW), interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) and stream interaction regions (SIRs)) with morbidity from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and mortality from ischemic heart diseases (IHDs) during the period 2000–2015 in Kaunas (Lithuania). In 2000–2015, 12,330 AMI events (men/women n = 6942/5388) and 3742 deaths from IHD (men/women n = 2480/1262) were registered. The results showed that a higher risk of AMI and deaths from IHD were related to the period of 3 days before GS—a day after GS, and a stronger effect was observed during the spring–autumn period. The strongest effect of HSSW was observed on the day of the event. We found significant associations between the risk of AMI and death from IHD and the occurrence of SFs during GSs. We also found a statistically significant increase in rate ratios (RRs) for all AMIs and deaths from IHD between the second and fourth days of the period of ICMEs.

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<p><span>The studies of associations between solar inputs and climate are mostly designed for winter or cold period; </span><span>whereas</span> <span>the knowledge about these associations during spring </span>on a day-to-day time scale are very scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study is to detect the response of spring air temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), and atmospheric pressure (ATP) to variation in teleconnection indices and space weather variables on the day-to-day timescale during the period of 1998–2017 in six cities of Eastern part of the Baltic region. We created<span> a multivariate linear regression model for weather variables including month, the linear and seasonal trend, different teleconnection patterns, </span>El Niño–Southern Oscillation (<span>ENSO), the Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO) phase, the presence of Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW), and space weather variables.</span></p><p>T<span>he multivariate models for </span>the mean daily weather variables showed a positive association between T and the daily Arctic oscillation (AO), monthly Scandinavian pattern (SCA) indices, solar proton events (SPEs) with a lag of 1-9 days, and solar wind dynamic pressure (P) with a lag of 1-2 days and negative association between T and East Atlantic/West Russia (EA/WR) index. <span>The linear and seasonal trends, the presence of SSW during March, and changes in AO, EA/WR, and SCA indices explained about 73% of the variation in mean daily T in the investigated region in spring. </span>The presence of the daily mean proton flux of > 10 MeV and energy over 10 pfu with a lag of 1-9 days and higher P with a lag of 1-2 <span>days </span>were also related to higher mean T. The mean RH positively correlated with a long-term and short-term variation in galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar wind speed (SWS) with a lag of 0-6 days and negatively correlated with EAWR and NINO3.4 indices. <span>The seasonal variation, the presence of SSW during March, the QBO phase, and the changes in the EA/WRI and ENSO explained over 38% of variation in the daily mean RH in spring.</span></p><p>The mean <span>ATP was negatively associated with both long-term and short-term changes in GCR</span> <span>and positively associated with </span>the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO), EA/WR, and SCA indices, B<sub>y</sub> component of interplanetary magnetic field <span>with a lag of 2 days, P, days of </span><span>Stream Interaction Regions (SIRs)</span><span>, and SWS with a lag of 4-6 days. These space weather variables had stronger effect on spring ATP </span>in the eastern part of the Baltic region<span> as compared to stratospheric events and teleconnection patterns. </span>Results of the present study show the significant short-term effects of SSW, SPEs, SIRs, and solar wind variables on spring weather pattern in the Eastern part of the Baltic region.</p>