Can solar storms destroy the internet?
Billions of tonnes of magnetized plasma are periodically ejected into space by solar convection currents swirling in the upper layers of its atmosphere. This coronal mass ejects travels at speeds of up to 11,000,000 kilometers per hour, and the sun can burn up to 20 per week, depending on where it is in its 11 year cycle of activity.
Although CMEs are common, they are launched in a narrow arc and the probability of hitting Earth is relatively small. We nearly failed in 2012, but the last major strike was in 1859, before society became dependent on electricity.
If a CME hit Earth on the same scale today, it could damage electronics in orbiting satellites, disrupt navigation and communication systems, and GPS time synchronization that depends on the Internet. It will also create an increase in electromagnetic radiation in the atmosphere, which will create tremendous currents in our power grid that can burn electric transformers and cause long failures.
Without electricity, society itself would be cut off – not just the internet. However, this is the worst case scenario. Scientists monitoring the sun can warn us of dangerous CME for several days. During this time, endangered satellites can be temporarily shut down and the power grid reconfigured to limit interference.
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