“A great solar flare that ends up hitting the Earth will destroy satellites, paralyze power plants and hell will break loose, it is only a matter of time that this ends up happening, it is inevitable” – Michio Kaku.
Large storms can have devastating consequences on cities and their populations, but we should be more concerned with another type of phenomenon:
If the Earth were hit by a great solar storm, the technology would be totally useless, with the fatal consequences that this entails.
“We are much more dependent on technology today, so we are more vulnerable to space weather than we were in the past,” says Thomas Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
“If today we were hit by an extreme phenomenon, it would be very difficult to respond,” warns the expert.
A solar storm usually begins with a solar flare (an explosion on the surface of the Sun that releases energy and particles into space).
Class X eruptions are the strongest in terms of potential effects on Earth, which can be devastating.
Other dangers from the Sun that hang over Earth are radiation storms, which can be very dangerous for astronauts.
And the ejections of mass from the solar corona, a cloud of charged particles that can take days to reach the Earth’s atmosphere and cause strong electromagnetic fluctuations.
What consequences could it have on Earth?
A medium to large solar flare could send compressed high energy radiation waves (X-rays and ultraviolet rays) directly to our planet. This would seriously increase the ionization of the upper atmosphere.
Thus, Berger points out that because most electrical technology is currently ground-based, the copper coils of the transformers at the heart of power distribution systems would melt, possibly even reaching cause a planetary blackout.
Also, electronically controlled water supplies – as in most modern cities – would stop working, as well as heating and air conditioning.
ATMs would be useless and so would GPS systems. Communications via satellite, essential for daily activity, would also be in danger with the arrival of a solar storm.
Some consequences could be felt for years and it would take a long time to replace all damaged systems worldwide.
Furthermore, a solar geomagnetic storm would affect air transport. “When planes fly over the poles, the only way to communicate with control centers is through high-frequency radio waves that bounce off the continents,” says Berger.
The expert points out that it takes about eight minutes for a solar storm to reach Earth since it is recorded.
The biggest solar storm in history
The strongest solar storm in human history is believed to have been the one that occurred in 1859, also known as the ‘Carrington event’, when all telegraph systems across Europe and North America failed due to cuts and short circuits, causing numerous fires.
Also, the sky was filled with northern and southern auroras. A similar event today is estimated to cost more than $ 2 trillion.
