The emergence of an impending solar storm has brought with it the remote possibility that within the next decade, the people of Earth could be left without internet access for months.
If the internet fails on a scale that large, the consequences could be devastating — causing billions of dollars of losses per day to the U.S. economy and impeding the production and supply chains for essential materials like food and medicine. But scientists at NASA are seeking to prevent such a catastrophe with the launch years ago of a probe that will allow them to study and prepare for how a solar storm could effect the planet’s infrastructure.
So, how likely is it that humankind could face what many have deemed the “internet apocalypse?”
Here’s what we know:
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Solar flares lead to threatening solar storms
Solar wind is created by the outward expansion of charged particles from the Sun’s corona on the outermost atmosphere, according to NASA. Though much less dense than wind on Earth, it is much faster — typically blowing at speeds of one to two million miles per hour.
Due to the winds that solar storms generate near the sun, the atmospheric impacts can potentially be felt on Earth. Solar flares and coronal mass ejections drive the storms, which release solar particles and electromagnetic radiation toward our planet, according to NASA.
As the frequency of coronal mass ejections increases at the height of its 11-year cycle, which NASA said is expected to be in 2025, electromagnetic activity on the sun peaks. What that so-called “solar maxiumum” means for us earthlings is that the risk for disruption on our planet increases.
The activity has the potential to cause geometric storms, which could hinder satellite signals, radio communications, internet and electrical power grids — resulting in a technological collapse.
A small chance exists that the solar storm could trigger an outage
The chances of…
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