In 1859, the most extreme global solar storm ever recorded up to that point and even until today, known as the Carrington Event, occurred. The effects were felt globally.
Telegraph systems in both Europe and North America lost power, and some even caught fire. Auroras, colored lights in the sky from the intense radiation that are generally seen only in the polar regions, were seen in the Caribbean, close to the equator. And the auroras in the polar regions were so bright, the night sky appeared as bright as midday.
Solar storms are a frequent occurrence, but extreme solar storms only happen every 100- 200 years. These storms are disturbances in space weather caused by the sun’s abrupt outpouring of energy.
These energy fields include solar flares — powerful explosions on the sun’s surface — and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which send massive streams of charged particles throughout the entire solar system.
The storms are most intense during the period of solar maximum, the apex of the star’s roughly 11-year cycle when sunspot activity is greatest.
During this period, Earth experiences an increase in geomagnetic storms, and scientists constantly monitor these solar outbursts to better understand how they affect our planet and the region of space around us.
Earth has a magnetic field, and when the solar storms interact with it, they can create dazzling displays near the North and South Poles — the colored, shimmering lights in the sky known as the aurora borealis (Northern Lights) and aurora australis (Southern Lights), respectively.
The light shows happen when charged particles slam into the upper atmosphere, exciting atoms and molecules to release energy at wavelengths that appear brilliant shades of green, red, and purple. The more intense the storm, the farther away from the poles these lights can be seen.
But a dazzling light show isn’t the whole of it. Solar storms can also wreak havoc on technology. Strong geomagnetic storms can disrupt radio communications, damage satellites, and endanger astronauts.
In extreme cases, geomagnetic storms have disrupted electrical grids, like the 1989 event that knocked out power in Quebec. That’s why space agencies keep a close eye on solar activity, warning us when major storms are headed our way.
Normally, Earth is surrounded by two radiation belts, called the Van Allen belts, which trap high-energy particles from the sun. If the particles were to reach the surface of the planet, they could disrupt life. If that happened in the distant past, life may not have arisen on the planet.
However, during periods of intense solar activity, researchers have found that new, temporary radiation belts can form.
In 2012, NASA’s Van Allen Probes mission led to the discovery of a temporary third radiation belt. It only lasted for about four weeks, though, before being disrupted by a solar shock wave.
These additional belts can also pose a danger to satellites and astronauts traveling beyond the planet’s protective magnetic field, even if they’re only temporary.
The more we understand about the solar wind, surface storms, and CMEs, the better prepared we can be to protect our technology and infrastructure. The Van Allen Probes and other research projects continue to uncover new details about how Earth’s magnetic field interacts with the sun’s energy.
By studying how this energy affects the magnetic field lines around Earth, researchers are gathering data that could help us predict the impact of future solar storms.
Adapted from:
Tseng, Ada. (March 12, 2025). “Solar Storm + Earth’s Magnetic Field = Auroras Galore.” HowStuffWorks. Retrieved from https://science.howstuffworks.com/solar-storm.htm?utm_source=HowStuffWorks+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=roundup-3-15-25
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