A violent solar storm can bombard the earth with charged particles. They can disrupt the power grid – but the internet infrastructure is also at risk.
Frankfurt – The sun is a guarantee for life on earth: It provides light and heat in exactly the right amount, so that life could once arise and has existed on earth ever since. But the sun can also be dangerous – and not just in terms of UV rays, which can cause skin cancer in humans. Eruptions on the sun can bombard the earth with charged particles. Such geomagnetic storms can wreak havoc on earth, especially power grids, radio networks and satellites are at risk.
This is actually known so far, but now the researcher Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi from the University of California draws attention to an aspect that has so far hardly been taken into account. At the “Sigcomm 2021” (Special Interest Group on Data Communication) conference, Abdu Jyothi spoke about what a large solar storm could cause on earth: an “Internet apocalypse”. In a paper that the researcher reported on at the conference, she explains how important the Internet has become for the economy: If the Internet in the US * fails for a whole day, the damage will exceed seven billion US dollars. Dollars valued.
Big solar storm could trigger “internet apocalypse”
“What made me think was the Corona * pandemic, which showed how unprepared the world was,” Abdu Jyothi told Wired.com. “There was no protocol to deal effectively with Corona and it is basically the same with the resilience of the Internet,” continues Abdu Jyothi. The infrastructure is not prepared for major solar events, or as the researcher puts it: “We have a very limited understanding of the extent of the damage.”
The researcher sees submarine cables and other longer connecting cables as a particularly critical weak point in the Internet infrastructure. The glass fibers in it are not sensitive to electromagnetic interference – the repeaters, which are installed at intervals of 50 to 150 kilometers to amplify the signals, are, however, very susceptible. And satellite communication would hardly be possible during a large solar storm, since the satellites, like the earth, can be hit by the charged particles – and unlike the earth, they are not protected by the atmosphere.
“Internet apocalypse” after a solar storm: submarine cables are particularly at risk
The researcher has brought together various findings in her paper:
- Submarine cables are more at risk than cables on land – because they are longer and more repeaters are used.
- The Internet in the USA is very susceptible to an interruption in the line to Europe.
- The Internet in Europe is at risk, but more resilient because shorter cables are used.
- Asia has a relatively high resilience – Singapore serves as a hub with connections to several countries.
- The distribution of the Internet infrastructure is focused on higher latitudes, which are more prone to solar storms.
Solar storms can cause massive damage to the earth
Even if solar storms sound like something out of a science fiction film, they are real. Normally, the atmosphere and the magnetic field protect the earth from the charged particles that emanate from solar storms. But very strong solar storms can still be felt on earth and have already caused noticeable damage. The strongest solar storm recorded so far on earth was the so-called “Carrington event” in 1859. At that time, the arrival of the charged particles caused failures of the telegraph network in North America and Europe, and the northern lights could even be observed in Rome and Hawaii. The impact sounds relatively minor – but that’s only because the geomagnetic storm of the “Carrington Event” hit Earth at a time when electrical equipment was not yet widely available.
Today it looks different. If a solar storm with the strength of the “Carrington Event” hit Earth today, the effects would be grave. A study from 2013, which examined the consequences of a “Carrington event” on the current US power grid, shows that 20 to 40 million people are likely to be without electricity for up to two years, the economic costs should therefore be alone up to $ 2.6 trillion in the US.
Huge solar storm: Earth narrowly escaped a catastrophe in 2012
In fact, the earth has only just missed such a catastrophe in recent years: In July 2012, a geomagnetic storm the size of the “Carrington event” just missed the earth *, announced the US space agency Nasa in 2014. At the time, the physicist Pete Riley stated that it was not so unlikely that the earth would be hit by a solar storm of “Carrington” strength in the next ten years. According to his analyzes, the probability is up to twelve%.
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Solar storms are a real threat to the earth
Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi also warns: solar storms are a “real threat with a considerable probability of occurring in the short or long term”. But there is a problem: Although there are warning systems that can report incoming solar storms around 13 hours in advance – there are hardly any countermeasures against the effects of a geomagnetic storm on Earth. That is why the Internet infrastructure should be prepared in good time, suggests Abdu Jyothi. Among other things, the researcher recommends laying more connecting cables in Central and South America, as the regions are less prone to solar storms and the connection to Europe and Asia may thus remain intact. The scientific background: The protection of the earth’s magnetic field is less in the polar regions and at high altitudes, the effects of solar storms are stronger there – which is why you can mainly admire aurora borealis, which is also triggered by solar storms *, in the polar regions.
Another suggestion from Abdu Jyothi: A shutdown strategy should be drawn up that stipulates how network operators should react if a strong solar storm is announced. One could think about a precautionary shutdown of the systems, but should also think about how to rebuild the network after a solar storm, it says in the paper. Internet satellite networks such as “Starlink” * from SpaceX * should also be checked to see what happens in a geomagnetic storm, the researcher recommends. She concludes her paper with a general recommendation: “It is crucial for the long-term resilience of the Internet that we take this risk seriously and plan the defense in good time.” (Tanja Banner) * fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
Category image: © NASA/SDO/AIA
