Over the Thanksgiving weekend, as Americans all over the country tucked into their holiday leftovers and recovered from a tryptophan-induced slumber an extremely dangerous situation was brewing in the space between the Earth and our Sun, most of us never even knew about it. As early as November 21st, scientific publications were already talking about it, but mainstream sources in the US were fairly mute despite the risks. It could’ve flatlined communications on half the planet as we know it.
The Science Times wrote that “NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured photos of the Sun’s corona, which shows a big “coronal hole” in the Sun’s outer atmosphere.” and that a “rush of “gaseous material” from the hole” was expected to impact the Earth. The coronal mass ejection or CME struck at 11:30 PM GMT on November 27th.
SpaceWeather.com warned: “First-look data suggest it might deliver a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field.”
Today's Sun (171A EUV) #spaceweather #spacewx #solarstorm #hamr #swl pic.twitter.com/vwDJyw3Dkt
— NW7US (@NW7US) November 27, 2021
Geomagnetic Storm Could’ve Disrupted Communications
Solar storms are ranked from G1 to G5 in intensity, and this glancing blow would’ve been a G1 that could’ve disrupted GPS, shortwave radio, and satellite communications. But it bears mention that there have been SEVERAL of these instances in 2020 into 2021.
Shortly before Halloween, an amazingly large solar flare erupted from the Sun’s surface. The incredible solar activity from October 25-28 complete with massive flares culminated in a huge Class X1 Solar Storm that struck the earth coinciding with the spooky holiday. The storm, also known as a Coronal Mass Ejection or CME sent a blast of charged solar particles and radiation streaming toward the earth at 2.5 million mph flaring up our auroras and disrupting orbital communications.
This particular eruption caused power disruptions and brilliant auroras as far south as Wales, New York, Idaho, Illinois, Oregon, Maryland, and Nevada.
According to Dailypost.co.uk, “Power outages followed in parts of Cardiff, Newport, Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire and across south Wales and southwest England.
Some people said their lights just flickered on and off but others reported longer outages with street lights remaining down for a time.
A spokesperson for Western Power said at the time that the reason behind the outage on Sunday was due to “an issue with the National Grid and they are investigating”.
Such storms are a deep concern because of the knowledge that one strong enough to severely disrupt, if not completely cripple our 21st-century society isn’t just likely, but inevitable. In 1859, the strongest ever solar storm recorded slammed into the Earth in what is now known as The Carrington Event. During the massive CME, telegraph lines across the US were rendered inoperative. History.com writes, “E.W. Culgan, a telegraph manager in Pittsburgh, reported that the resulting currents flowing through the wires were so powerful that platinum contacts were in danger of melting and “streams of fire” were pouring forth from the circuits. In Washington, D.C., telegraph operator Frederick W. Royce was severely shocked as his forehead grazed a ground wire. According to a witness, an arc of fire jumped from Royce’s head to the telegraphic equipment.”
Even today, with our advanced satellites and ground-based observatories, science can only offer a few days warning at most of another Carrington Event, that could realistically reset half the globe to the technological state of the late 1800s.
