I thought I would add a bit more information about what is actually happening. First, here is an illustration to help visualize things in terms of a geomagnetic storm:
What this storm is being caused by is a huge influx of energetic particles coming from the sun and smashing into the magnetic field of the earth. When this happens, we see both the physical effects and biological effects.
Not only do headaches happen, and other strange biological effects, but nearly 1/3 of all heart attacks come from these geomagnetic storms. Here is a link for a complete scientific paper about how the storms effect headaches and the heart:
http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:KzD369zO0b4J:journals.imc.akh-wien.ac.at/kup/pdf/26.pdf+heart+attacks+and+geomagnetic+activity&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Abstract from the article:
Effect of geomagnetic activity on cardiovascular parameters
E. Stoupel
Multidirectional changes in the natural history of many cardiovascular syndromes have been linked to different levels of
daily and monthly geomagnetic activity (GMA). Previous studies have found that in periods of high GMA there were more
admissions for acute myocardial infarction and more cases of anterior wall myocardial infarction. Results also indicated: higher
outpatient mortality and a trend towards higher hospital mortality from acute myocardial infarction; higher diastolic arterial
pressure in healthy subjects and in treated hypertensive patients; higher prolactin and 17-corticosteroid levels in the peripheral
blood; more severe migraine attacks and more admissions for CVA and cerebrovascular insufficiency in male patients; changes
in many blood coagulation cellular gradients (platelet count, basophils in the peripheral blood), a rise in platelet aggregation,
fibrinogen level and a drop in leukocyte adhesiveness.
Periods of low GMA showed a related increase (negative correlation) in in-hospital non-myocardial infarction-related car-
diovascular deaths. Only in times of lowest GMA did inferior wall myocardial infarction exceed anterior wall myocardial
infarction. Low GMA was also associated with higher levels of growth hormone and 11-ketosteroids in the peripheral blood,
more sudden deaths, some increase in electrical heart instability/hourly number of ventricular and supraventricular extrasystoles
and higher rate of ventricular tachycardia.
The monthly occurrence of pregnancy-induced hypertension was negatively correlated with GMA level. Gender differences
were noted in some of the parameters. Other studied parameters did not show changes related to GMA. These included
haemoglobin level, electrolyte level, heart beat and pulse rate. Moreover, some observed cardiovascular fluctuations that were
related to the level of GMA also showed differences in the rising and dropping parts of the 11-year cycle of solar activity. It has
been suggested that some of the changes observed in many clinical syndromes may be related to the concomitant activation of
the serotoninergic system. J Clin Basic Cardiol 1999; 2: 34?40. <end snip>
How bad is this storm and when did it start? Take a look at the top chart of this graph to see the solar wind speed and the second chart is the density.
When the particle stream reaches speeds of half a million Km a second, as they did in the last 10 hours, you have the earth being hit pretty hard by a cosmic sludgehammer, and we are feeling the effects of it.
Skipper
