The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) categorizes incoming storms as category G2 on Monday and G1 on Tuesday, corresponding to a five-level solar storm scale (G5 being the most extreme). NOAA says geomagnetic storms will not cause any damage to Earth.
“However, the aurora borealis can be seen at lower latitudes than usual. Maybe as far south as New York and Idaho in the US,” NOAA said, quoted by SINDOnews from the Live Science page, Tuesday (15/3/2022).
Read also; Solar Eruption Sprays Giant Plasma 3.5 Million Km, What Is The Fate Of The Earth?
NOAA explains, Earth experiences more than 2,000 G1 and G2 solar storms every decade. Earth is currently in the midst of a mild solar storm; The most recent G2 hurricane grazed Earth on Sunday (March 13), passing early in the morning without much trouble.
Like all geomagnetic storms, the events predicted on Monday and Tuesday stem from the explosion of charged particles leaving the sun’s outer atmosphere or corona. These explosions, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) occur when the magnetic field lines in the Sun’s atmosphere tangle and fracture, sending jets of plasma and magnetic fields out into space.
These huge clumps of particles sail across the solar system with the solar wind, occasionally passing through Earth, and in the process compressing our planet’s magnetic shield. The compression triggers a geomagnetic storm.
Read also; Hit by a solar storm, 40 SpaceX Starlink Satellites Fall to Earth
According to NOAA, most hurricanes are mild, only damaging technology in space or at very high latitudes. But larger CMEs can trigger much more extreme storms – like the infamous Carrington Event of 1859, which caused electric currents so strong that telegraph equipment exploded into flames.
–
