{"id":646,"date":"2019-01-23T10:25:17","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T10:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizon.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=646"},"modified":"2019-01-23T10:25:17","modified_gmt":"2019-01-23T10:25:17","slug":"extreme-space-weather-can-wreak-havoc-on-earth-these-tools-help-warn-of-the-dangers-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/646\/extreme-space-weather-can-wreak-havoc-on-earth-these-tools-help-warn-of-the-dangers-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Extreme space weather can wreak havoc on Earth. These tools help warn of the dangers ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ethan Bilby<\/strong><\/p>\n

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On a hot day in August 1972 toward the end of the Vietnam War<\/strong>, dozens of naval mines<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0off the coast of Hai Phong in North Vietnam began to explode without warning. In March 1989, a magnetic surge tripped circuits,\u00a0<\/strong>knocking out power<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in the entire Canadian province of Quebec. While in 1859, an event sparked telegraph lines, igniting fires, and\u00a0<\/strong>northern lights<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0so bright that British stargazers could read newspapers at night. These days, scientists know that all these events were caused by intense space weather, capable of wreaking havoc on electric grids and electromagnetically sensitive technology.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Importantly, modern scientists have something that observers decades ago did not \u2013 sophisticated satellite data and modelling that can forecast space weather with accuracy.<\/p>\n

\u2018If space weather forecasting is inaccurate\u2026space storms can result in disruption in the operation of satellites, interruptions of communication, incorrect navigation data from GPS satellites, force the rerouting of polar flight paths, or set up ground induced currents that can severely impact the operation of power grids and pipelines,\u2019 said Professor Robertus von Fay-Siebenburgen, who headed up a project called\u00a0PROGRESS<\/a>\u00a0at the University of Sheffield in the UK.<\/p>\n

Along with other scientists, he coordinated the work to improve the reliability of systems that predict space weather events by measuring the solar wind from distances further away from Earth than previously possible.<\/p>\n

Solar activity follows an 11-year cycle of high and low periods. Those high periods are when it is most likely for events like coronal mass ejections (CMEs) to occur, where the sun flings off massive bulks of charged plasma into space. These charged particles, when directed towards Earth, can impact in as soon as half a day\u2019s time. Many times the first real warning can only come an hour before.<\/p>\n

\u2018The consequences of space weather hazards can result in anything from a mild operational inconvenience to total loss of segments of our modern technological infrastructure,\u2019 said Prof. von Fay- Siebenburgen.<\/p>\n

\u2018A worst-case scenario may cause the setback of the economy of a country even up to a decade.\u2019<\/p>\n