DNA Explainer: What is a solar storm and how it affects mobile phone and GPS signals?

With a fierce solar storm moving towards the Earth at a speed of 1.6 million kilometers per hour, there are concerns this storm may cause a power failure around the world. And its likely to hit today!

The storm originated from the Sun's atmosphere. According to the website SpaceWeather.com, a hole has opened up in the Sun's atmosphere which is now spewing a stream of solar wind in Earth's direction.

What is a solar storm?

Commonly referred to as a solar storm, scientists call the phenomenon a geomagnetic storm. As per NASA, solar storms are “a variety of eruptions of mass and energy from the solar surface.” These are caused by solar features and phenomena like flares, prominences, sunspots, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

In a solar storm, stored magnetic energy is suddenly released from the sun. These solar winds of energy can sometimes hit the Earth and cause temporary disturbances in the planet’s magnetic field. While Earth’s magnetosphere, its magnetic shield, absorbs most of these solar storms, some of them can cause chaotic disturbances like blinding satellites, disrupting mobile phone and GPS signals as well as widespread power outages.

How will it affect mobile phone and GPS signals?

Collisions too hot to handle for Earth’s magnetic field can impact communication, energy transmission and weather in the region of space dominated by Earth's magnetic field.

The strong electrical currents from these solar storms cause changes in the Earth’s ionosphere which interfere with high-frequency radio communications, mobile phones and GPS signals. Furthermore, solar protons can also be absorbed by polar caps of Earth which can compromise radio communications for airplanes flying on transpolar routes, as per NASA.

The incoming solar storm

As per NASA, the speed of the solar storm could further accelerate to more than 1.6 million kilometres per hour. The impact is expected to be centered on sub-solar point on the sunlit side of Earth, according to the US Space Weather Prediction Centre.

The Sun’s power should never be underestimated. In March 1989, the entire Canadian province of Quebec suffered a 12-hour electrical power blackout caused by a solar storm.

(: NASA/SDO)

— Planetary Society (@exploreplanets) July 10, 2021

What does a solar storm look like?

The auroras seen in the skies at the North or South Pole are a result of this interaction where solar winds deport charged particles like solar protons in the upper atmosphere of Earth.

Has Earth been hit by a solar storm before?

Historically, solar storms have the ability to cause temporary chaos. A March 1989 solar storm caused a nine-hour blackout at Hydro-Québec's electricity transmission system in Canada. The largest solar storm ever recorded occured on 1859 and is called the Carrington Event.