Decoding Solar Storms: Understanding Their Impact on Earth’s Infrastructure

Solar storms manifest in different forms, each with unique effects on Earth:

1. Solar Flares: Sudden bursts of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun can disrupt radio communications and navigation systems.

2. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs): Large expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona can cause geomagnetic storms, leading to power grid failures and satellite disruptions.

3. Geomagnetic Storms: Disturbances in Earth’s magnetosphere triggered by CMEs or solar wind shock waves can result in auroras and infrastructure issues.

4. Solar Particle Events (SPEs): High-energy particle emissions pose risks to astronauts, satellites, and high-altitude flights.

Understanding these solar phenomena is essential to protecting Earth’s technology-dependent infrastructure and improving space weather forecasting.

Source: https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0815/Solar-flare-Maybe-not.-Explaining-four-different-kinds-of-solar-storms/Coronal-mass-ejection