Could a Solar Flare Wipe Out Earth's Electronics?

Powerful events on the surface of the sun, like solar flares and coronal mass ejections, produce radiation and magnetic waves that could indeed affect electrical and communications systems here on Earth -- though they'd have to be massive. Learn more in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/solar-flare-electronics.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey, Brainstuff florin
vogelbamb here. The Sun makes almost all life as we
know it on Earth possible, but there's still a lot
we don't understand about this miasma of incandescent plasma. As
the band they might be giants have put it, for example,

(00:23):
exactly how powerful are its magnetic storms. Could a solar
flare or other event on the surface of the Sun
affect us here on Earth. Here's what we do know.
The Sun is a massive object comprised of intensely hot
ionized gases. We call this kind of gas plasma, and

(00:44):
it's the most common state of matter in the universe.
The atoms that make up the gases in the Sun
are so hot that they can't hold on to their electrons.
The gases flowing currents through the Sun, carrying electrons with them.
If you're at all familiar with electromagnets, you know that
an electrical current can create a magnetic field. That's the

(01:06):
case with the Sun. The Sun has an enormous magnetic
field around it. The rotation of the Sun perpetuates this
magnetic field. To make matters more complicated, Hot objects tend
to expand, and the Sun is an extremely hot object.
But the Sun is also large and dense, which means
it has a strong gravitational pull. The Sun's gravity balances

(01:30):
out its tendency to expand the combination of these forces
can cause the Sun's surface to change in dramatic and
sometimes violent ways. The currents of gas can cause magnetic
field lines to twist that can prevent hotter gases from
the Sun's core from rising to the surface, creating sun spots.

(01:51):
The sunspots are cooler and darker than the areas that
surround them. The hot gas trapped beneath sunspots exerts pressure
on the magnetic field lines, which can wind them into
even tighter coils. Sometimes more field lines become entangled. Once
in a while, the magnetic field lines will uncoil without

(02:12):
much incident, and the sunspot will fade as the hot
gases rise again to the surface. But sometimes the pressure
continues to build until the magnetic field lines snap out suddenly,
causing a solar flare. A solar flare isn't just an
explosion of hot gases. It pushes out waves all across

(02:33):
the electromagnetic spectrum that includes visible light that we can
see and types of waves that we can't, including X
rays and gamma rays. These can be dangerous to humans. Fortunately,
our atmosphere absorbs most high energy rays like this, but
that's not to say everyone is in the clear after

(02:55):
a solar flare. Humans in space or at high altitudes
on an airplane, for example, could risk exposure to intense radiation.
Short term damage could include skin irritation. Long term consequences
might include an increased risk of developing skin cancer, but
it's likely that any affected human would eventually recover from

(03:17):
the exposure. Electronics are also vulnerable to these rays. If
high energy rays were to hit a satellite, they could
strip electrons from the metal components, ionizing them. As electrons
break free, they could short out the electronics within the satellite.
They could also create a magnetic field that would damage
the satellite systems. Some satellites do have shielding to protect

(03:42):
them from these rays, but many are vulnerable because Earth's
atmosphere absorbs most of these dangerous rays. Terrestrial electronics are
fairly safe from solar flares, but another type of solar event,
called a coronal mass ejection or CME, cause serious problems.
For electrical systems here on Earth. During a CME, the

(04:05):
fluctuations of the Sun's magnetic fields cause a large portion
of the surface of the Sun to expand rapidly, ejecting
billions of tons of particles out into space. Sometimes CMEs
accompany solar flares, but not all solar flares produce CMEs,
and not all CMEs happen in the company of solar flares.

(04:27):
Unlike a solar flare, a coronal mass ejection doesn't produce
intense light, but it does produce a magnetic shockwave that
extends billions of miles out into space. If Earth is
in the path of that shockwave, our planet's magnetic field
will react to the event. It's similar to what happens
if you put a weak magnet next to a strong one.

(04:50):
The weak magnets field will align itself to these strong
magnets field. A magnetic shockwave from the Sun could cause
the alignment of Earth's magnetic field to shift unpredictably. The
Northern and Southern lights are observable examples of how a
CME can affect the Earth. These colorful lights result from

(05:11):
subatomic particles moving at incredible speed, which causes gases like
oxygen and nitrogen to ionize in our atmosphere. As the
atoms in the gases recombine with electrons, they emit light.
This mainly happens where Earth's magnetic field lines converge at
the planet's magnetic poles. Pretty lights aren't the only consequence

(05:33):
from a CME, but exactly how badly off could we
be after such an event. Coronal mass ejections have affected
the Earth in the past. In eighteen fifty nine, a
CME caused enormous fluctuations in the Earth's magnetosphere the magnetic
fields surrounding the planet. People living as far south as

(05:54):
Cuba witnessed the Northern lights phenomenon. The magnetic fluctuations caused
compasses and telegraph systems to fail. At the time, scientists
and academics debated the cause of all the commotion, though
we now recognize it as a CME so massive that
it caused what we call a solar superstorm. Today, we

(06:14):
depend much more heavily upon electronics and electricity in general
than we did in eighteen fifty nine. If a similar
solar superstorm were to hit us now, we'd be in
trouble because magnetic fields can induce electricity. Any conductor could
become an inductor, a meaning a powerful CME could induce

(06:36):
electricity in any large powerful conductor of electricity like power
transformers and the power grid itself, that could overload electrical
systems and cause massive damage. The power grid in North
America operates at near capacity. It wouldn't be able to
handle the increased electrical load from a solar superstorm. A

(06:59):
power could sag and even snap. As a result, massive
power outages could affect much of the continent. The magnetic
fluctuations would interfere with radio signals and communication and satellite
systems could go offline. It could take weeks or months
to repair the damage. During that time, people would have

(07:19):
no way to find out what was going on other
than sheer word of mouth. Emergency services would face serious challenges.
While the magnetic fields would probably not short out individual
electronic devices like cell phones or computers, communications systems could
fail regionally. In other words, small devices would still work,

(07:41):
but would lack the services they require to be useful.
It is possible that a coronal mass ejection could affect
your computer and cause glitches. In most cases, a simple
reboot would solve the problem, but with the loss of
the power grid, you'd be limited by your batteries charge,
and once that ran out, you'd be stuck. There's no

(08:02):
way to prevent a solar superstorm, but there are steps
we can take to limit the impact of a CME. A.
One is to overhaul the power grid system. We need
a smart grid that isn't operating so close to capacity
as our current grid is. We also need to develop
shielding to protect our electrical infrastructure from magnetic fluctuations as

(08:24):
much as possible. However, even in the worst case scenarios,
superstorms wouldn't wipe out all electrical systems across the planet.
Some regions would remain relatively unaffected. It would require a
solar event of unprecedented magnitude to wipe out all the
electronics on Earth, but even a modest coronal mass ejection

(08:46):
could demonstrate just how vulnerable we are to the Sun's
magnetic temper tantrums. Today's episode is based on the article
could an extremely powerful soul flair destroy all the electronics
on Earth? On HowStuffWorks dot com, written by Jonathan Strickland.
To hear more from Jonathan, check out his podcast Large

(09:08):
nerdron Collider. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership
with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.
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