Geomagnetic storm can sound the death knell for birds

Photo Credit: Pixabay

A really powerful geomagnetic storm can be a threat to infrastructure on Earth including mobile phones, electricity and even satellites. Geomagnetic storms can also strike birds.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

A Geomagnetic storm on Earth is generated by the volatile Sun spewing out energy in various forms that strikes our planet. 

Photo Credit: Pixabay

When a geomagnetic storm is sparked on Earth, it impacts the electronic infrastructure, but also generates the colourful Northern Lights. Unfortunately, they also impact migratory birds.

Photo Credit: ISRO/Twitter

A journal from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has revealed that migratory birds tend to stay grounded during severe space weather events, with a 9 to 17 percent decrease in the number of birds in flight.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Birds that do attempt to fly during the Geomagnetic storms, face challenges in navigating to their destinations.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Birds, use the Earth's magnetic field for navigation. They rely on variations in the magnetic field's inclination and intensity across different geographic locations to reach their destinations while migrating.

Photo Credit: Unsplash

As reported in Newsweek, Ben Winger, a co-author of the study and an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, explained how these storms affect bird migration

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Geomagnetic storms alter the Earth's magnetic fields and are triggered by interactions between solar plasma and the Earth's magnetosphere.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The study suggests that during large geomagnetic storms, fewer birds migrate, and those that do may struggle to navigate, especially during overcast conditions.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

While the study couldn't track individual birds to confirm if they get lost, one other research has indicated that birds may indeed become disoriented during geomagnetic events, as told by Winger to Newsweek.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

What that means is that those birds end up getting lost because of the geomagnatic storm and they fail to reach their destination. That can mean the difference between life and death as food sources may not be available where they have ended up.