According to scientists and researchers, a solar storm of significant size is expected to hit the Earth today, July 20, and is likely to cause a few outages in prone areas. The solar storm is caused by a solar flare that emerged from the Sun around July 15.
The solar flare is now expected to hit Earth today, causing a massive solar storm that can disrupt services across the globe. Scientists have said that the solar storm can be of G-2 or G-3 level and can cause disruption of GPS navigation and radio services.
Renowned physicist Dr Tamitha Skov raised the alert for the solar storm hitting Earth on social media a few days back, saying that GPS, as well as flight and ship travel, can be disrupted due to a potential global outage of services.
Taking to Twitter, the physicist had said, “The long snake-like filament cartwheeled its way off the Sun in a stunning ballet. The magnetic orientation of this Earth-directed solar storm is going to be tough to predict. G2-level (possibly G3) conditions may occur if the magnetic field of this storm is oriented southward!”
Experts have said that if the solar storm reaches a massive level, it can cause outages and blackouts across the globe on July 20. Earlier, it was predicted that the solar flare will hit the Earth with a storm on July 18, but the date was later pushed.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted that new sunspots are expected to appear on the Earth soon, with the likelihood of solar flares, which can be as strong as X category.
As per the definition of the phenomenon, a solar flare is an intense localized eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. A solar flare can be classified into five major categories – A, B, C, M, and X – with X being the one with the highest intensity.
GPS users in prone areas have been asked to stay on alert as the massive solar storm can disrupt communication and navigation systems.
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