Geomagnetic Storms Caused by Solar Wind Might Be More Extreme than Previously Thought
Researchers say measurement uncertainty may be hiding a linear rise in Earth’s geomagnetic response, making the worst solar storms up to twice as damaging.
6 Articles
6 Articles
Geomagnetic storms caused by solar wind might be more extreme than previously thought
The severity of geomagnetic storms — magnetic disturbances in Earth’s outer atmosphere — is widely understood to reach an upper limit as the strength of the solar wind increases. But this upper limit is an illusion that results from uncertainty in the measurement of solar-wind strength as the true value regresses towards the mean. Regression to the mean explains away the apparent limit to geomagnetic disturbances linked to strong solar winds.
The rarest solar storms could devastate our technologies without any natural mechanism hindering their impact. On July 15, 2026, physicists from NASA's Goddard Center and Lancaster University published an analysis of more than one million satellite observations. Their findings call into question the scenarios of protection of terrestrial infrastructures. Our planet's magnetic response would increase in proportion to the violence of the Sun's eru…
We’re underestimating the power of ‘one-in-a-thousand-year’ solar storms, NASA warns
New research led by NASA Goddard found persistent “erroneous measurements” skewing past estimates for how severe geomagnetic storms can get.Cataclysmic solar storms may be rare, but they do happen. And unlike the legendary 1859 Carrington Event—which knocked out telegraphs across Europe and North America and dragged the Northern Lights down to Florida—some have happened recently enough to give us a sense of how modern electronics might fare. Sol…
Threat of extreme solar storms may be far worse than we imagined
A theorized limit to our planet’s response to geomagnetic storms may be the product of a statistical illusion, researchers claim, revealing that the extent of damage from the most extreme solar events could be greater than we ever imagined.Continue ReadingCategory: Astronomy, Science, Refractor: Science & HealthTags: Sun, Magnetic field, geomagnetic, NASA, coronal mass ejection, solar-storm
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