Lifestyle

Solar Winds: Everything You Need To Know About It

• By All That Trending
• 13-07-2021
• 12.43K

Did you know that a giant solar eruption known as the Carrington Event in 1859 had shut down telegraph and electrical systems for days? Compared to the 18th-century era, our dependency on telecommunications and electronics have increased tremendously. Imagine a massive blackout, it would be equivalent to the world coming to an end for us. However, if you are still thinking that the possibility of such a blackout is zero, well, we hate to break it to you, you're mistaken. The Earth is set to come in the way of fast-moving streams of solar winds, and the massive solar storm can cause disruptions in satellites, as well as mobile phone signals and television broadcasts! The fiery solar storm is approaching the Earth at a speed of 1.6 million kilometres per hour might hit the Earth, causing a total power failure globally. Classifying the storm as G-1 or minor, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that the gaseous material flows in the Sun's atmosphere from an equatorial hole. What is a geomagnetic storm? What causes it? What are solar winds? Well, keep on reading as we break it down to you:

The phenomena of solar winds

In simpler terms, solar winds travel at a massive speed throughout the solar system with covering a million miles per hour. The solar winds are visible in the halo around the Sun, and if the particles hit the Earth's atmosphere - they can be seen as the northern lights or aurora borealis. Since the Sun spins on its axis, the solar winds can be seen as complex swirls comprising of electrons and protons that flow towards the Earth. These solar winds have the power to affect telecommunications.

Can solar winds affect us?

The Earth is protected with strong magnetic fields that cancel out the deadly radiation of the Sun from reaching the Earth's atmosphere. However, there can be times when the Sun might emit stronger flares throwing tons of material into space, and these shockwaves can disrupt telecommunication across the world.

What is a geomagnetic storm?

Though our planet is shielded with strong magnetic fields, variations in solar winds can produce changes in the Earth's magnetic fields in our planet's magnetosphere. Geomagnetic storms thus refer to disturbances occurring in the Earth's magnetosphere.

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