World-Wide Variations of the Earth's Magnetic Field and the Intensity of Cosmic Radiation

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Abstract
The observational data show that changes in the intensity of cosmic radiation are correlated with fluctuations of the magnetic field of the earth. It is suggested that the principal part of these fluctuations is due to variations in the intensity of the ionospheric currents. A rough schematic representation of these currents is assumed, as well as of their diurnal variations, and used to find the variation of the intensity of cosmic radiation caused by variations of the magnetic force due to these currents. A change of 0.4 percent in the intensity of cosmic rays in equatorial regions is thus obtained, in good agreement with experiment. At high latitudes discrepancies appear which, however, seem to be satisfactorily accounted for by the influence of the sun's magnetic field. Nonperiodic variations seem to be accounted for by the same mechanism, except in the case of magnetic storms.

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