Heat not caused by solar flares, says scientist

• The temperature was high in many areas yesterday with the highest 35.5 C0 recorded from Jaffna

By Yohan Perera  

There is no link between the solar flares and the excessive heat that is experienced currently in the country, said scientist and Chairman of Arthur C. Clarke Centre Professor Chandana Jayaratne yesterday.

“No institution has confirmed that the excessive heat that is being experienced in Sri Lanka has been caused by solar flares that have taken place recently. Also, no one can predict such solar flares as such a situation can be identified only two days after such an eruption takes place,” he said.  

However, necessary equipment to monitor the effects of solar flares has been fixed in Dompe,” he added.  

Foreign Media on March 30, reported that there was a powerful explosion from the Sun that ionized the top layer of Earth’s atmosphere and led to a strong Shortwave Radio blackout over Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.  

“The flare erupted from sunspot AR3256 near the southwestern limb of the star in our Solar System,” the reports said.  
The eruption was captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun.  

It was reported that two people died as a result of excessive heat in Eppawala on Sunday. They have suffered heart attacks as a result of heat tension.  
Meanwhile, the temperature was high in many areas yesterday with the highest 35.5 c0 recorded from Jaffna, while a temperature of 33 c0 was recorded from Vavuniya, 33.6 c0 from Maha Illupulama, 33.4 c0 from Batticaloa, 33.9 c0 from Pottuvil and 33.4 c0 from Polonnaruwa.