A solar storm recently knocked 40 SpaceX satellites out of orbit. If a tiny storm – by historic standards – can do such damage, what will happen the day a long-overdue massive solar eruption hits earth? As part of an ambitious plan to conquer space, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is pepper spraying space above the earth with a network of satellites called Starlink, providing broadband wireless internet coverage to every square inch of the planet. Its technical bravura is only matched by its ambition.
However, SpaceX lost 40 out of 49 satellites to a geomagnetic storm caused by the recent launch of a massive solar flare, though a light breeze would probably be a more appropriate description. If such a small perturbation can disrupt technology, what can a larger eruption do?
The Carrington Event
In 1859, humans got a small taste of what electrical power the sun could generate. The so-called Carrington Event is the most powerful solar eruption recorded in modern history. It occurred at the beginning of the electrical age and generated significant disruption. Auroras were so bright that they could be seen in the Caribbean. They shone so brightly in the Rocky Mountains that gold miners woke from the light, believing it was morning.
Telegraph stations worldwide failed, and some caught fire. The air was electrified and gave many operators electrical shocks. Some reported that they could transmit and receive even after they had disconnected their power supply.
The only reason the Carrington Event didn’t cause more chaos was that electricity was not yet a backbone infrastructure of modern civilization. Had such an event occurred today, we would have seen power outages all over the planet. Much of the world’s electronic equipment would have been vulnerable, possibly destroying cars, mobile phones, computers, and other electrical equipment.
The Charlemagne Event
However, by historical standards, the Carrington Event is weak. Imagine it being comparable to a strong breeze, amounting to leaves rustling and wind vanes starting to move. In A.D. 774, an electric superstorm called the Charlemagne Event corresponding to the strongest hurricane recorded on earth occurred, at least ten times stronger than the Carrington Event. We don’t have any direct measurements of the superstorm and few historical witness accounts. However, 14C data from tree rings show a massive spike around that time.
There is some evidence of sudden cooling and abnormal weather, and the Japanese volcano Ontake-san erupted in A.D. 774. There is no evidence of massive disruption to human life during that time, but they did not have a civilization based on electricity.
Knockout
If such an impact occurred today, it could knock out the electricity grid globally. That might not seem so dangerous but consider how the political mismanagement of the relatively small crisis of COVID-19 caused massive delays in the supply chains. Imagine if 60% of all power grids in the world were damaged, if a significant portion of computers, mobile phones, cars, airplanes, cargo ships, and other crucial infrastructure stopped working all at once. It would take years to recover, possibly decades.
Now add that the world’s world production indirectly relies on electricity. Much of the farming equipment, oil production, and truck transportation could stop for an extended period. If food production is disrupted for six months, much of the world’s population will starve.
The good news is that such a disaster is unlikely to happen tomorrow. However, there is a far greater chance that you will experience this during your lifetime than dying of COVID-19 or global warming. Humanity is ill-prepared for such civilization killers. We still have plenty of time to prepare, but gender studies and solar panels will probably not be enough to face the challenge.
~ Read more from Caroline Adana.
