A coming solar storm could trigger a global blackout, scientists warn

[Simone411]

Since this could happen globally, I feel it needs a thread of its own.

MSN

Some excerpts from the article:

Solar scientists are tracking a surge in activity on the sun that could unleash powerful storms toward Earth, with the potential to disrupt electricity, communications and navigation on a global scale. The concern is not science fiction but a growing consensus that our hyperconnected infrastructure is more exposed than ever to a severe space weather event that could trigger cascading blackouts across continents.

I see a widening gap between what experts now understand about extreme solar storms and how prepared power grids, satellite operators and governments actually are for a worst case scenario. As the sun approaches the peak of its current cycle, the risk of a major geomagnetic storm is rising, and the latest flares and radio blackouts are being treated as both a warning shot and a live fire drill for a world that runs on vulnerable electronics.

Why Scientists are sounding the alarm now

Solar activity follows an approximately 11 year cycle, and as the current one ramps toward its maximum, researchers are watching a growing number of large sunspots and eruptions that can fling energy and charged particles toward Earth. I have seen space weather forecasters describe recent bursts of activity as a sign that the sun is entering a more volatile phase, with multiple strong flares and geomagnetic storms clustered over a short period rather than spaced out over years.

That pattern matters because each major eruption increases the odds that one will be aimed squarely at our planet, and recent events have already produced measurable impacts on radio communications and navigation systems. Reports of a massive solar storm causing communications blackouts underscore that this is not a distant theoretical risk but an active hazard that is already testing the resilience of aviation, maritime and emergency networks.

How a solar flare can knock out power and communications

When a powerful solar flare or coronal mass ejection erupts from the sun, it can hurl a cloud of magnetized plasma toward Earth that slams into our magnetic field and atmosphere. I think of it as a kind of invisible shock wave that induces strong electrical currents in long conductors on the ground, including high voltage transmission lines and undersea cables, while also bombarding satellites and high altitude aircraft with energetic particles.

Those induced currents can overload transformers, trip protective relays and destabilize entire power grids, while the disturbance in the upper atmosphere can absorb or scatter radio signals that aircraft, ships and emergency services rely on. Earlier coverage of a severe geomagnetic storm that prompted the world to brace for chaos to technologies highlighted how quickly GPS accuracy, satellite communications and even power quality can deteriorate when the sun delivers a direct hit.

Recent flares show what a global blackout could look like

Recent solar storms have offered a preview of how a more extreme event might unfold, with localized outages and disruptions rippling across multiple sectors at once. I have watched as space weather alerts translated into real world impacts, from degraded high frequency radio links used by transoceanic flights to temporary loss of satellite based services that underpin everything from ride hailing apps to financial transactions.

NASA's warnings and what they actually mean

Space agencies are not in the business of casual alarm, so when NASA scientists publicly warn about the potential for a powerful solar storm to trigger blackouts, I read that as a sign that the risk has moved from abstract to actionable. Their message is not that catastrophe is guaranteed, but that the probability of a severe event during the current solar maximum is high enough that grid operators and governments should be treating it as a planning scenario, not a remote outlier.

The internet apocalypse scenario and why it worries experts

Beyond the immediate risk to power grids, researchers are increasingly focused on how a severe geomagnetic storm could damage the backbone of the global internet. I have seen network engineers warn that long distance undersea cables, which rely on repeaters and power feeds stretching thousands of kilometers, are particularly vulnerable to geomagnetically induced currents that could knock out key links between continents.

One detailed analysis of this so called internet apocalypse scenario explained that while local fiber networks inside cities might survive, the loss of transoceanic routes would fragment the global web into isolated regional islands. In practice, that could mean cloud services failing, international banking transactions stalling and platforms like Netflix, WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams becoming unreachable across large parts of the world, even if smartphones and laptops themselves remain powered on.

 

[Winnipeg]

OMG, another thing to worry about..........

 

[Simone411]

OMG, another thing to worry about..........

ITA. I wish it weren't the case, but I'm afraid it is.

 

[Vagabond]

Please remind me to be out of town at the time.