The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) of the National Weather Service in the United States warned that a G2-class geomagnetic storm, caused by the Sun, could impact the Earth in the coming days.
Solar flares like this are the origin of geomagnetic storms that translate into electromagnetic impulses (EMP in English) and that pose a significant threat to electrical power networks, radio communications or satellites.
These phenomena begin with large explosions on the surface of the Sun, which result in the expulsion of a large amount of energy due to the magnetic field lines.
These storms are capable of damaging power grids and transformers, interfering with satellites, disrupting radio communications, and producing auroras much further south than usual.
Even some specialists, such as Abdu Jyothi of the University of California, they talk about an internet apocalypse. If the storm is strong enough, it could damage the undersea cables that link the global fiber-optic network through the electrical repeaters that feed it. The consequences could last for months, says Jyothi.
Millions of jobs currently depend on the communications infrastructure between satellites, cables and antennas for electricity. The transportation network, banking systems, and even emergency services depend on this technology.
The consequences on what is not silicon and cables seem to be less drastic at the moment, but it is true that some consequences have been recorded in astronauts, such as a burning sensation in the eyes when affecting the retinas of the astronauts of the Atlantis ship in 1989.
how it originates
From NASA they explain that the ionosphere -layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that extends between 80 and 500 km- is damaged during geomagnetic storms and said activity affects terrestrial communications.
The most affected are high frequency radio waves and GPS systems. Just as radio communications from commercial flights or cruise ships can have problems during absorption events at the poles caused by solar protons.
The Space Weather Center reported several explosive events that have been occurring on the Sun in recent days, with incidence on Earth. For example, auroras were detected in southern Alaska; In New York; in Vermont; in New Hampshire and in Maine.
Normally, the terrestrial magnetosphere, the layer formed by the interaction of the terrestrial magnetism and the solar wind, is capable of protecting the planet and man-made technology of the effects that these phenomena cause.
Geomagnetic storms are rated on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being the weakest and 5 being the one with the highest damage potential. Level 2 or G2 storms are moderate and do not pose a danger to humans.
Throughout history there have been especially powerful solar flares, which, when impacting with the Earth, have endangered the communications systems of the time.
For example, in 1859 a solar storm caused what was dubbed the Carrington event, severely damaging the telegraph system in North America, Europe, and parts of Australia and Asia.