The Strongest Solar Storm in 20 Years Did Little Damage, but Worse Space Weather Is Coming
For years, we have been warned about impending doom from the sun. If pointed in our direction, powerful eruptions of radiation and plasma from our star can strike our planet to supercharge Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field, effectively hitting a global “reset” button on much of our modern technology. A sufficiently intense bombardment could raise a geomagnetic storm that would push satellites out of orbit, short out submarine cables that suture together the Internet and plunge the world into darkness with massive blackouts from collapsed power grids.
Yet this past weekend, when one of the strongest solar outbursts in 20 years blasted our planet, we managed to emerge unscathed thanks to years of careful public and private planning. The storm has ebbed, although the solar region that sparked it has since spat out additional monstrous flares—fortunately no longer targeted at Earth because of the sun’s spin. But while we’ve passed our biggest test yet, experts say now is not the time to let down our guard: the question of more cataclysmic solar activity isn’t a matter of “if” but “when.”