Space Events

Solar 'super-storms' catastrophic threat for humanity

Ashley Dale, from the University of Bristol, was a member of an international task force named SolarMAX, established to identify the hazards of a solar storm and how the impact can be reduced, explains how it is only a matter of time before an extremely catastrophic solar storm is propelled towards Earth.

Solar storms are actually caused by violent eruptions on the surface of the Sun and are accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CME).

Coronal mass ejections are the most energetic events in the solar system and include massive bubbles of plasma and magnetic fields being ejected from the Sun's surface into space.

They are often preceded by a solar flare, which is an enormous release of energy from the Sun in the form of X-rays, gamma rays, electrons and protons.

A solar super-storm takes place when a CME of sufficient magnitude tears into the Earth's surrounding magnetic field and tears it apart.

Such an enormous event would cause huge surges of electrical currents in overhead transmission lines and in the ground leading to widespread power outages and damaging critical electrical components.

The earth is in the path of a Carrington-level event every 150 years on average, which suggests humanity is currently 5 years overdue - and that the probability of one taking place in the next decade is as high as 12 percent, NASA scientists have predicted.

A sub-group of scientists have said that advanced space-weather forecasting is the best solution to limit the potential damage of a solar super-storm, which can be achieved by sending an array of 16 lunchbox-sized cube satellites into orbit around the Sun.