Solar flares pose a threat to our electrical infrastructure. We currently have a tremendous dependence on power grids and if these were affected by a massive outage, our day-to-day activity, as we know it, would suddenly cease. Hence the activity of the Sun is taken very seriously and mitigated its possible global effects, too. Now a team of scientists from Harvard University published a study proposing a bold solution: c olocar a giant magnetic shield to protect Earth orbit.
In the event that the solar storm of 1859, also known as the Carrington event, occurred today, it is estimated that it would cause global damage to electrical power grids, satellite communications, and global supply chains. The economic losses around the planet would amount to trillions of dollars and it would take us several years to recover.
To calculate the damage, the researchers developed a simple mathematical model to assess the economic losses caused by solar flare activity over time. “We anticipate that within the next 150 years there will be an event that will cause damage comparable to the current US GDP of $ 20 trillion, and the damage will increase exponentially in later times until technological development is saturated,” the authors explain.
How to reduce the damage of energetic particles?
With a magnetic shield. According to experts, the magnetic shield, placed between the Earth and the Sun (at the L1 point of Lagrange Earth-Sun), would weigh about 100,000 tons and would be able to deflect the charged particles and create an artificial shock arc around the Earth. ; that is, it would protect the Earth in a way similar to how it uses its magnetic field, but on a much larger scale.
Based on their assessment, such a shield is technically feasible in terms of basic physical parameters.
“The engineering project associated with the magnetic shield that we propose could take a few decades to build in space. The cost of getting the necessary infrastructure into space (100,000 tons) will likely be $ 100 billion, much less than the expected damage over a period of time. century “, clarifies Abraham Loeb, co-author of the work.
Scientists have ventured that over the course of billions of years, rocky planets orbiting close to their suns would also be subject to regular solar flares that would cause them to lose their atmospheres. In this sense, magnetic shields could be a possible solution for the creation of extra solar colonies.
It is a foregone conclusion that as time and technology progress, humanity’s presence in space will also increase. As a consequence, preparation for the most drastic meteorological events that the solar system can throw at us becomes inevitable. In addition, when asked if ‘are we alone in the Universe?’, It also makes sense to consider that the detection in space of these protective shields could point the way to extraterrestrial intelligence.
Reference: Impact and mitigation strategy for future solar flares. arXiv. arxiv.org/abs/1709.05348
Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
