Scientists warn that the number of car accidents could increase by 50% during a solar eclipse.
The authors of the study published in JAMA Internal Medicine warn that there could be a spike in fatal traffic accidents during this April’s total solar eclipse, the Daily Mail writes.
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Scientists analyzed traffic data from the 2017 solar eclipse and found that more than 1,000 fatal crashes occurred in the United States in the three days before and after the astronomical event.
The average number of traffic fatalities each day in the United States is approximately 114, but during the week of the 2017 solar eclipse, there were at least 189 deaths each day. The increase in traffic accidents was not due to the darkening of the day, the problem was that millions of people first went to the place where they would watch the total solar eclipse and then came back.
During the total solar eclipse on April 8, millions of people in the United States will travel to one of 14 states to watch the astronomical event. It occurs when the Moon completely covers the Sun and a not very wide strip of total darkness appears on Earth, which this year will be located in North and Central America.
In August 2017, during a total solar eclipse, the strip of total darkness was 113 km wide and nearly 20 million US residents drove to watch the eclipse. This year the band of pitch darkness will be about that wide and can be captured in about 5 minutes from daylight to night.
Given that the eclipse led to an increase in traffic volume 7 years ago, scientists analyzed data on fatal accidents to find out whether they were related to the astronomical event.
They focused on the three-day window surrounding the August 21, 2017 eclipse. For comparison purposes, they also looked at crash data from three days a week before and one week after the astronomical event. It was determined that heavy traffic before and after the eclipse caused an increase in traffic accidents and more than 1,000 accidents occurred.
The analysis found that traffic accidents rose above average in the hour before the eclipse, but fell below average during the eclipse and then rose by a shocking 50% above average.
As I already wrote FocusAstronomers predict that large-scale explosions will occur on the Sun during the solar eclipse in April. Predictions concern the emergence of particularly powerful solar flares and plasma explosions.
Moreover Focus wrote that another strong X-class flare had recently appeared on the Sun, but this time it was a very rare event. As a result, a geomagnetic storm of almost peak intensity arose on Earth. Astronomers believe this is evidence that the Sun has reached the peak of its activity.
Source: Focus
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