![]() ![]() After slamming into Earth, the powerful stream of solar particles fried telegraph systems around the world and caused auroras brighter than the light of the full moon to appear as far south as the Caribbean. The largest solar storm in recent history was the 1859 Carrington Event, which released roughly the same energy as 10 billion 1-megaton atomic bombs. Scientists anticipate that the sun's activity will steadily climb for the next few years, reaching an overall maximum in 2025 before decreasing again. Solar storms might be causing gray whales to get lost Devastating solar storms could be far more common than we thought An 'Internet apocalypse' could ride to Earth with the next solar storm, new research warns The upcoming storm is just the latest in a string of solar attacks fired at Earth as the sun ramps up into the most active phase of its roughly 11-year solar cycle.Īstronomers have known since 1775 that solar activity rises and falls in cycles, but recently, the sun has been more active than expected, with nearly double the sunspot appearances predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They can not only warp our planet's magnetic field powerfully enough to send satellites tumbling to Earth, but can disrupt electrical systems and even cripple the internet. More extreme geomagnetic storms, however, can have far more serious effects. It could also cause an aurora to appear as far south as Michigan and Maine. It may cause minor fluctuations in power grids and impair some satellite functions - including those for mobile devices and GPS systems. Thankfully today's potential storm, predicted to be a G-1 class, will be fairly weak. The storms can also create cracks in the magnetosphere which remain open for hours at a time, enabling some solar material to stream through and disrupt satellites, radio communications, and power systems. ![]()
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