Scientists have discovered the existence of radiation clouds and are concerned with the safety and health risk of passengers exposed to the rays. A flight across the skies could mean twice as much exposure than that of dental radiation rays.
Various locations, however, emit different radiation levels. For example, flights passing through the Polar Regions have a higher amount of radiation while mid-latitude travels give off lower radiation likened to having a chest ray for 25 hours.
According to Science Alert, W. Kent Tobiska of LA-based research firm Space Environment Technologies said, "We have flown radiation sensors onboard 264 research flights at altitudes as high as 17.3 km (56,700 ft) from 2013 to 2017." He further stated, "We have seen several cases where the exposure is doubled while flying through the cloud."
Tobiska and his team discovered that not only cosmic rays and solar wind hold responsible for the radiation, but as well as geomagnetic storms. These storms free electrons that have mixed with nitrogen and oxygen atoms and molecules, and thus, creating a form of radiation like gamma rays.
Various scientists opened up the idea of having sensors in planes to signal whether they're moving towards radiation clouds and avoid it. While the effects of these emissions are low, fatal cancer might increase, with the ratio of 1 to 300,000.
Pilots and cabin crew are seen as the most affected people when passing through radiation clouds. Tobiska and the people behind the research vowed to continue their findings throughout the year.
Spaceweather.com reports that Automated Radiation Measurements for Aerospace Safety program of Tobiska will have a busy flight on 2017 to find more of the radiation clouds to depict the radiation levels in the sky more clearly at different aviation altitudes.
Radiation in the atmosphere, however, is nothing new. But the findings of having various levels of radiation and that it could jack up without no reason at all has alarmed scientists.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
