Audio By Carbonatix
Earth will experience its strongest geomagnetic storm in six years today, but the radiation is expected to cause only minor problems with satellites, the power grid and navigation devices.
“Operators are surely seeing a greater number of errors on their system that are causing them to work a bit harder, but we’re not expecting satellites to stop,” Douglas Biesecker, a physicist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told ABCNews.com.
The storm is forecasted to be a G-2 or G-3 on NOAA’s ascending five-point scale.
Biesecker said people should not worry about harmful radiation.
“The magnetic field around Earth is protecting us. That’s one of the great things about being on Earth,” he said.
The average person won’t be affected by the radiation unless they’re taking a flight with a polar route.
“Airlines will divert those flights because high frequency communications will be impacted,” he said.
The storm was set off by a chain of events Sunday evening. A moderate solar flare erupted on the sun, which occurs tens of thousands of times every solar cycle, Biesecker said.
The solar flare was associated with a coronal mass ejection, which is also a frequent occurrence. However, this particular one was big and sent a cloud of plasma with a magnetic field hurdling toward Earth at 4 million mph.
Earth experienced some of the radiation within an hour of Sunday’s solar flare.
“The ones that escape propogate to Earth at the speed of light,” Biesecker explained.
The geomagnetic storm is expected to last for one day.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Tags:
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Latest Stories
-
Menstrual poverty: United Pension Trustees calls for an end to menstruation stigma
9 minutes -
Vaccine survey reveals strong public confidence as Ghana pushes local manufacturing agenda
14 minutes -
Ghana Navy, NPA intensify crackdown on illegal fuel smuggling network
15 minutes -
Weija Dam spill gates opened as Ghana Water warns of flood risk
22 minutes -
See shimmering new satellite image of Lake Bosomtwe showing gold glitters surrounding it – Earth from space
31 minutes -
ECG restores power at Tanyigbe SHS after week-long outage
41 minutes -
Bolivian president warns country at ‘breaking point’ after month of protests
1 hour -
Jill Biden says she thought husband was having a stroke during 2024 debate
1 hour -
Countries tighten travel rules as Ebola risk rises
1 hour -
Gold hits two-month low as US-Iran tension stokes inflation fears
1 hour -
Toyota sales drop for third month on declines in China, Middle East
2 hours -
Trump refiles $10bn defamation suit against WSJ over report on Epstein ties
2 hours -
Kenya school fire kills at least 10 students, media say
2 hours -
Don’t cry urgency – Majority Chief Whip warns NPP over LGBTQ bill debate
2 hours -
We can pass it by Friday – Dafeamekpor signals rapid move on LGBTQ bill
2 hours