An Extreme Solar Storm May Be Even More Devastating Than Previously Imagined
It's well known that a solar storm, depending on its level of intensity, can affect the functioning of electrical grids, navigation systems, or satellite communications. The problem is that it's unclear what would happen today if the intensity of a storm reached levels like those of the so-called Carrington Event in 1859, one of those extraordinarily rare phenomena that occur only once every thousand years. New research, though, suggests the impact might be even worse than scientists had thought.
Solar storms occur when the solar wind—a continuous stream of charged particles emitted by the sun—interacts with Earth's magnetosphere. During the Carrington Event, telegraph communications collapsed across half the world, and the northern lights were visible throughout North America as far south as Cuba. In today's world, strong solar storms can have wider-ranging effects and can even alter the upper atmosphere.
“Our planet’s magnetic field does a...
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