How a solar storm could knock out the power grid and the internet
fastcompany.com
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Geomagnetic storms
These are powerful solar eruptions that produce high amounts of cosmic rays in Earth's upper atmosphere, which in turn produce carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The Carrington Event of 1859 is the largest recorded account of a geomagnetic storm, but it is not an isolated event. Recordings of these storms date back to the early 19th century, and an even more massive event is known as the Miyake Event, which occurred around A.D. 774.
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Knocking out power
Today, a geomagnetic storm of the same intensity as the Carrington Event would affect far more than telegraph wires and could be catastrophic.
With the ever-growing dependency on electricity and emerging technology, any disruption could lead to trillions of dollars of monetary loss and risk to a life dependent on the systems.
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Breaking connections
In the case of a solar storm, communications would be disrupted on a worldwide scale.
- Internet service providers could go down, which in turn would take out the ability of different systems to communicate with each other.
- Satellites in orbit around Earth could be damaged by induced currents from the geomagnetic storm burning out their circuit boards. This would lead to disruptions in satellite-based telephone, internet, radio and television.
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Just a matter of time
It's important to work now to minimize the disruptions from the next Carrington Event.
It's important to continue researching ways to protect electrical systems against the effects of geomagnetic storms, installing devices that can shield vulnerable equipment like transformers, and developing strategies for adjusting grid loads when solar storms are about to hit.
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