What Would Happen if a Massive Solar Storm Hit the Earth?

An X-class flare captured by NASA on March 6th, 2012. Image Credit: NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center / Flickr

 

We all know that major storms can wreak havoc, flooding cities and decimating infrastructure. But there’s an even bigger worry than wind and rain: space weather. If a massive solar storm hit us, our technology would be wiped out. The entire planet could go dark.

“We’re much more reliant on technology these days that is vulnerable to space weather than we were in the past,” said Thomas Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He told Gizmodo, “If we were hit by an extreme event today, it’d be very difficult to respond.”

Mystery at the sun’s south pole: Nasa reveals huge ‘coronal hole’ on the solar surface where winds reach 500 miles per SECOND

This could have an unprecedented effect on electronics on Earth, which could in turn cause further devastating effects on human life.

For those that follow Bible prophecy, look no further than Revelation 8:2.

 

 

• Coronal holes are regions of the corona where the magnetic field reaches out into space
• Particles moving along those magnetic fields can leave the sun rather than being trapped near the surface
• Polar coronal hole can remain visible for five years or longer, although constantly changes shape

There were no fireworks on the sun to welcome in the New Year – and in fact, scientists say the end of the year was relatively quiet on the solar surface.

However, the sun has started 2015 with a mysterious event – a huge hole has appeared.

Known as a coronal hole, the phenomenon occurred near the south pole – and is seen as a dark area covered all of its base in these stunning images.