One of the space phenomena that you hear most about lately, and that everything seems to indicate that in the future they will have a greater impact on human life, are solar storms. When we talk about solar storms, we all imagine that they refer to space phenomena coming from the Sun and affecting our planet. However, do you know what is a solar storm and its effect on Earth? If you want to delve a little more into the subject, keep reading this Green Ecologist article in which we tell you all about this phenomenon, as well as if it is something dangerous or not.
What is a solar storm
Solar storms, also called geomagnetic storms, are natural phenomena that have their origin in the activity of the solar surface, and are characterized by affect the electromagnetic field of the Earth (or any planet they affect, although the one that may concern us is our own planet).
Solar storms occur when the solar surface activity emits large amounts of radiation and solar coronal mass (mass of the sun in plasma form) into space. This is what is called the solar wind and, in reality, it has nothing to do with the air, but rather it is radiation and mass from the surface of the sun that, when expelled from the star, is thrown into space. Exterior.
Most of the time, this solar wind does not find an object in its path. However, when it intersects the orbits of planets like Earth, oppresses the electromagnetic field of the planet, which causes it to undergo modifications. When this happens, and the Earth's electromagnetic field is affected by the solar wind, it is when we speak of a solar storm or a geomagnetic storm.
What effect does a solar storm have on Earth
Actually, the effects of a solar storm on Earth they are less dangerous than it may seem at first. It must be taken into account that what is altered is the electromagnetic field of the planet. However, the solar wind does not get to cross this field, much less alter the surface of the planet where life is found.
However, this does not mean that it does not have concrete effects. In fact, a very strong solar storm entails Aurora borealis which, instead of concentrating at latitudes near the poles, tend to appear even at latitudes closer to the tropics, an effect that is due to the alteration of the electromagnetic field that protects the Earth and that makes these phenomena normally only seen naturally in the polar regions.
However, beyond the northern lights, solar storms do have an important effect on human activity, precisely because they do affect the electromagnetic field, on which a good part of it depends.to technology we use today. In fact, a powerful solar storm can cause problems in radio transmissions, in the use of radars, as well as failures in navigation systems. In fact, one of the biggest problems is that solar storms do affect Earth's artificial satellites, which are the equipment we currently use in disciplines such as telecommunications or GPS (Global Positioning System). In this way, although they do not directly affect life on Earth, they can greatly affect the daily activities of human beings today.
How dangerous can solar storms get?
There is a certain controversy over whether a solar storm could be really dangerous for life on Earth in the event that it impacted with the orbit of our planet and, finally, it passed through the electromagnetic field, reaching the surface of the planet.
In fact, at least to date, no solar storms have ever been recorded that had the ability to affect life on Earth. In fact, for this to be possible, it would be necessary that it was not a solar storm itself, but a coronary mass ejection from the solar surface so powerful that, as such, it could impact the Earth in a similar way to like an asteroid would. However, the distance at which our planet is located means that this possibility, although not impossible, is very unlikely.
If you want to read more articles similar to What is a solar storm and its effect on Earth, we recommend that you enter our category of Curiosities of the Earth and the universe.
