NEWS & CULTURE

Could A Solar Superflare Destroy The World? | Answers With Joe

Joe Scott | February 25, 2025

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The sun is a solar flare machine, constantly spitting out waves of charged particles in all directions. Sometimes these hit Earth. Luckily we’re protected by a strong magnetic field that directs the particles to the poles, which we experience as the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis.

But from time to time, the sun erupts in a massive superflare, also known as a CME or Coronal Mass Ejection. These can push our magnetic shield to its limits and actually cause electrical problems on the ground.

One of the worst instances of a CME striking the Earth occurred in 1859. It disrupted the telegraph system and sent sparks flying out of switchboards. It became known as the Carrington Event and begs the question – what if it happened today?

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LINKS LINKS LINKS:

Carrington Event animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVS4Q4VgDxk

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/06/12/sun-star-superflare/#.XQFIVI97mUk

https://www.history.com/news/a-perfect-solar-superstorm-the-1859-carrington-event, https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-the-carrington-event-let-telegraphs-run-on-aurora-p-1686759750

http://www.solarstorms.org/NewsPapers/d1989c.pdf

https://www.airspacemag.com/space/the-invisible-killers-11257197/

https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/27jan_solarflares/