It is a curious irony that the worst solar storm in recorded history took place on Earth at a time when human civilization was not yet particularly vulnerable to the inescapable geomagnetic fury of the Sun (fortunately for us).
The Carrington event – also known as the solar storm of 1859 – signified a massive solar coronal mass ejection unleashed in Earth’s protective magnetosphere, producing an epic geomagnetic storm that humanity had never witnessed before.
When a barrage of charged particles collided with Earth’s magnetic field, intense auroras lit up the skies around the world , but with strong electrical currents that spread across the planet, the repercussions were far beyond a colorful spectacle. visual.
Telegraph systems covering Europe and North America dwindled as sparks flew from equipment, giving electrical shocks to their human operators and even setting fires.
In other words, it was technological chaos. However, from the perspective of 2018, when it comes to tech apocalypses, we find all of this rather picturesque.
If the solar storm had hit Earth today
But what if a similar-scale solar storm struck Earth’s dominant technological systems right now? what would happen?
No one knows for sure what the most negative scenario would look like , but considering how dependent we are on technological and electronic superstructures compared to the primitive and relatively meager artifacts of 1859, it is clear that it would not be easy at all.
Perhaps our most relevant clue lies in some strange events that took place in the month of March 1989. At that time, a severe solar storm, but not of the Carrington type, hit the Earth. Once again, beautiful and intense auroras appeared and some thought that it was the beginning of a Third World War. However, it was not a nuclear attack that disrupted radio signals and satellite communication systems, but the flow of charged particles being trapped in the Earth’s magnetic field lines.
The most extreme results of the solar storm were felt in Quebec (Canada), where the electrical grid was disconnected , meaning that some 6 million people were immediately deprived of electricity. For many, the outage lasted just a few hours, but for others it was days.
It would be like sending the world back to the Middle Ages.
Thus, a solar storm powerful enough to destroy the electrical and communication systems on Earth for days, months or even years, would knock out power grids, satellites, GPS, internet, telephones, transportation systems, banks. .. When the whole world disconnected -maybe-, in just a few hours total technological darkness would fall.
Although it looks like something out of a movie or disaster series like Revolution , it is not fiction.
At best, a large geomagnetic storm could only cause limited interruptions in communications. But as history has shown, even such small-scale interference could have devastating consequences.
“It is not just the lights that would go out. They are bank accounts that disappear … If you think what would happen if the stock market went offline for a week or a month or if communications were to drop for a week or a month, you will quickly arrive to a point where this could be one of the most important threats facing the world, without exception, “explains Francis O’Sullivan, research director of the MIT Energy Initiative.
