When I started reading 48 Hours, by William Forstchen, I realized that solar flares really hadn’t crossed my mind when thinking about potentially apocalypse-causing disasters. The book centers around solar events called CMEs (coronal mass ejections) and the significant impact it had on the power grid and life on earth. Although the chance of a solar event that has apocalyptic consequences on earth, as in the book, is extremely low, smaller scale occurrences that affect Earth do happen regularly.
Astronomers are expecting that the Sun will enter its solar maximum in 2025, possibly sooner. Solar maximum is the period of time where the Sun’s activity is the greatest, which happens on an 11-year cycle. During this time, a large number of sunspots can be observed, and solar irradiance increases. The increase in number and intensity of solar flares (CMEs) as the Sun reaches its solar maximum can cause disturbances on earth. When strong enough, the flares can cause radio blackouts, cell service disruption and interference with satellites that are in orbit. There also is the potential for health risks for astronauts since they are outside the earth’s atmosphere, which gives us protection from the Sun’s radiation. But there is one plus to this increase in solar weather. The Northern Lights!
Those beautiful, dancing waves of light in the northern (or southern) sky are caused by radiation from the Sun slamming into the Earth’s upper atmosphere. The Earth’s magnetic field then redirects those particles towards its poles, which gives us the dazzling light show in our sky. So, this beautiful display is actually the Earth protecting us from solar flares. The more intense the flare, the more intense the lightshow.
Other than minor disruptions to radio communication and cell service in some areas, there should be no need to worry about the Sun entering its solar maximum (unless you’re an astronaut). So, enjoy the show!
Comments