What most people don't know about the environment
30 May, 2026
Did you know that the Earth and just about every part of the natural world emit electromagnetic fields?
It’s not just humans who have the ability to produce energy and generate electromagnetic fields (EMFs). So do animals, even microscopic, single-celled organisisms; so do viruses; so do fish and fungi and flowers and trees.
Writing in the journal Applied Sciences, Ganna Nevoit and team explain that every living organism on Earth emits electromagnetic fields. ‘They are generated when each living cell establishes a potential difference and emits electromagnetic radiation across its membranes, thereby forming electromagnetic fields of biogenic [biological] origin,’ the authors say.
Different types of life forms emit different kinds of fields. ‘The range of electromagnetic field rhythms in plants is within hundredths and thousandths of a Hz,’ the authors say. However, ‘Electromagnetic fields emitted by animals are recorded in the optical and microwave ranges, covering the infrared, orange-red, blue, and ultraviolet regions.’
The Earth itself, emits electromagnetic fields, say the authors, and these are the result of:
· geomagnetic fields – eg caused by electric currents in the outer layer of the Earth’s core, the magnetisation of rocks;
· atmospheric EMFs – eg caused by thunderstorms, corona discharges, solar radiation, the gravitational pull of the moon;
· EMFs of all lifeforms – from viruses to humans;
· and EMFs from aquatic environments.
Nor surprisingly, all life depends on the electromagnetic field of the Earth. ‘The Earth’s electromagnetic field plays a fundamental biological role as the electromagnetic component of biological life,’ the authors say.
For example, humans depend on the Earth’s fields for life and health. Being confined in a space that’s insulated from the Earth’s fields for more than 20 minutes causes people physical and mental harm.
It stands to reason that humans – and other life forms – are sensitive to the Earth’s fields, for example, they react to atmospheric changes eg thunderstorms and full moons.
‘The human body is a component of the Earth’s electromagnetic landscape and has biophysical mechanisms for coupling with it,’ say the team.
And here’s another fascinating aspect of our electromagnetic environment.
According to the authors, ‘each biological organism is a source of electromagnetic radiation and is/must interact with other electromagnetic fields in the Earth’s electromagnetic landscape.’ In other words, we’re all in it together!
But now there’s a problem.
Into this delicately balanced electromagnetic environment, humans have introduced a staggering array of technologies that emit artificial electromagnetic fields.
The authors say, ‘humanity now uses virtually the entire frequency range of electromagnetic radiation: up to 300 Hz (up to 1000 km)—static fields of various origins, power plants, power lines, video display terminals; 0.3–3 kHz (1000–100 km)—radio transmitter modulators, medical devices, electric furnaces for induction heating, hardening, welding, melting, cleaning; 3–30 kHz (100–10 km)—very low frequency communications, radio navigation systems, radio transmitter modulators, medical devices, electric furnaces for induction heating, hardening, welding, melting, cleaning, video display terminals; 30–300 kHz (10–1 km)—radio broadcasting, radio navigation, maritime and aviation communications, low frequency communications, radar, video display terminals, electrophoresis, induction heating and melting of metal; 0.3–3 MHz (1–0.1 km)—radio broadcasting, communications, radio navigation, marine radiotelephony, amateur radio communications, industrial radio frequency devices, amplitude modulated transmitters, welding machines, semiconductor material production, medical devices; 3–30 MHz (100–10 m)—radio broadcasting, amateur radio communications, global communications, high-frequency therapy, magnetic resonance exciters, dielectric heating, wood drying and gluing, plasma heaters; 30–300 MHz (10–1 m)—mobile communications, heating, frequency-modulated radio broadcasting, television broadcasting, ambulance, dielectric heating, magnetic resonance exciters, plastic welding, plasma heating; 0.3–3 GHz (100–10 cm)—radio relay lines, mobile communications, radar, radio navigation, television broadcasting, microwave ovens, medical devices, plasma heating, particle accelerators; 3–30 GHz (10–1 cm)—radar, satellite communications, mobile communications, meteorological locators, radio relay lines, security alarms, plasma heating, thermonuclear fusion plants; 30–300 GHz (10–1 mm)—radar, satellite communications, radio relay lines, radio navigation.’
So, what does that mean for the Earth and everything and everyone on it?
We’ll see what the authors have to say about that next week.
Nevoit, G., Potyazhenko, M., Mintser, O., Jarusevicius, G., & Vainoras, A. (2026). Human Bioelectromagnetism and the Environment: Introduction to the Problem. Applied Sciences, 16(8), 3627. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16083627