Eye of Fire: Why are solar storms dangerous and how can they destroy the Earth?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In September 1859, a coronal mass ejection (CME) occurred. Astronomers have observed a huge pillar of fire appearing on the Sun, and auroras have been visible even in Cuba and Jamaica.

This event resulted in massive destruction of electrical equipment around the world.

Telegraph networks have burned out, power grids are out of order.

Electricity is even more widespread today than it was back in 1859. Almost every house is connected to the electricity grid, and many people watch satellite TV.

Electricity is almost everywhere. Therefore, experts believe that a similar coronal mass ejection could lead to a real catastrophe around the world. Are we ready for this? Below we will discuss the 10 main consequences of this phenomenon.

10. Failure of communication satellites

The first phase of the CME will crash over the Earth at the speed of light, leaving no time for preparation.

In this initial stage, electromagnetic radiation will block satellite signals, altering the composition of the atmosphere.

Since communications will be disrupted, it will be impossible to prepare the satellites for the next stage of the solar storm.

Most communications satellites will not withstand the attack of high-speed particles.

The armed forces of many states depend on communication satellites. Cash transactions are processed by satellites on a daily basis.

Pilots need satellite communications to fly their planes. All this will be impossible.

9. The astronauts will die

From space, the coronal mass ejection looks beautiful. However, astronauts working in outer space will not have time to return to the interior of the spacecraft. Protected only by their suits, they will burn alive.

If the astronaut manages to return to the spacecraft, then he will be safe, since the spaceships are equipped with powerful shielding from space radiation.

However, since the satellites will be disabled, astronauts will not be able to communicate with Earth.

8. Destruction of power grids

The first two stages of a solar storm will already do a lot of harm, but they are not comparable to the third stage.

After the charged particles are in the Earth's electromagnetic field, a huge cloud of gas and plasma will approach our planet at a tremendous speed.

Power transformers across the planet will begin to explode, leaving millions of people in the dark and without access to electricity.

Power lines will fail.

7. Medical institutions will stop working

It is medical institutions that will be the first to feel the effects of the solar storm.

Most healthcare facilities are equipped with emergency generators to keep the lights on when there is no electricity. But these generators are unable to support the entire network of a modern hospital. In the best case, they will last a couple of days, no more.

For many patients, this situation will end in tragedy.

6. Supply lines will be disrupted

Petrol stations do not work without electricity. Some gas stations are ready for a power outage and store extra gas and also have generators in case of an emergency.

However, the owners of gas stations are unlikely to hesitate to sell gasoline these days. If the emergency lasts more than two days, anyone who pours gasoline into their gas tank in front of others is at risk of being attacked.

And without gasoline, the supply of products will also be frozen. Without aviation fuel, air mail will be suspended, and store shelves will be empty.

5. Mass hunger

The average person doesn't know how to survive in the event of a real disaster. Even those who are interested in such things have never been in a situation where something terrible really happens.

In such a situation, money will become useless. And when the nearest supermarkets run out of food, people will go hungry.

Despite the fact that nature provides an opportunity to feed itself, most of us do not know how to get food.

In addition, not many people possess weapons that can be used in the hunt.

However, there is a risk that such weapons will be used not for hunting, but in order to take resources from other people.

4. Lawlessness

People in rural areas will be in a better position than urban people.

There, people, as a rule, have some food reserves, and in addition, they have the opportunity to get food for themselves.

However, crowds of people will be sent from the cities to the countryside, and the villagers will have to defend their supplies.

Chaos will set in, violations of the law will reach unprecedented levels, as it was in the summer of 1977, when the lights went out in five boroughs of New York for 24 hours.

This led to a surge in crime.

3. Loss of important data around the world

In the past, all data was stored in huge libraries. In the modern world, information is stored digitally.

In the case of CME, millions of people will not only be left without mobile communications and cable TV. People will find themselves without Internet access.

Google and Wikipedia servers will crash and it will take a huge effort to recover the data.

Despite the fact that there is still a purely physical storage of data in books and other non-electronic media, books will soon be used as fuel, since in the case of CME people will be left without vital communications.

2. Social reboot

Rebuilding power grids could cost US $ 2 trillion, but the cost of rebuilding power grids around the world is almost impossible to estimate.

Without the media that say what to do, without money and the necessary benefits of civilization, society will very quickly begin to change.

Real chaos will come, and those who survive in it will no longer be able to return to the old order, but they will be ready for something new.

1. Influence on the human electromagnetic field

A person has his own electromagnetic field. In 2014, a study suggested that the risk of stroke increases during geomagnetic storms. The potential impact of a solar storm on the human body will be significantly stronger.

Scientists point out that dozens of ancient civilizations believed that humanity would enter a higher stage of development thanks to a solar flare.

Many civilizations predicted that those who survived would have a higher degree of development, including skills such as telepathy, psychokinesis, levitation, and others.