The Northern Lights, a breathtaking spectacle of vibrant colors dancing across the night sky, are a true marvel for those who witness them. However, beneath this beauty lies a powerful force that can wreak havoc on our planet.
The charged particles ejected by our Sun during solar storms, which create the mesmerizing aurora borealis, can also trigger rare yet extremely disruptive events on Earth.
But here's where it gets controversial: these solar storms have the potential to impact our electricity supplies, disrupt satellite communications, and even ground air travel.
Recently, Airbus grounded 6,000 planes due to a software issue triggered by intense solar radiation. This incident highlights the very real threat that space weather poses to our modern technologies.
The UK government's National Risk Register includes severe space weather among its list of potential threats, alongside nuclear incidents and terrorist attacks.
The Carrington Event of 1859, the most intense geomagnetic storm on record, serves as a stark reminder of the potential consequences. It caused telegraph operators to receive electric shocks and pylons to spark, and even allowed conversations to continue without batteries.
With today's advanced technologies, the impact of a similar event would be far more severe. Satellites can be affected, causing them to deorbit and fall back to Earth. In February 2022, a solar storm led to the loss of 38 satellites, a stark reminder of this risk.
And this is the part most people miss: space weather can also disrupt radio communications, including GPS systems, potentially causing gridlock in cities as car sat-navs fail. Without GPS, air travel would also be severely impacted, compromising the safety of flights.
In October 2025, a JetBlue Airlines plane experienced a sudden drop in altitude, injuring passengers. Airbus attributed this incident to space weather, which corrupted data in an elevator aileron computer, causing the plane to pitch down unexpectedly.
The Emergency Airworthiness Directive issued by Airbus grounded over 6,000 planes until a software update or computer upgrade was implemented. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the potential catastrophic consequences of space weather.
Electricity grids are also vulnerable, as demonstrated by the 1989 power outage in Quebec, Canada, which left millions without power and heat for nine hours.
The question remains: what are the chances of another Carrington-class event? In July 2012, a similar event narrowly missed Earth, thanks to the Sun's rotation.
Researchers have discovered evidence in tree ring data suggesting that we could experience events ten times larger than the Carrington event. Miyake events, named after their discoverer, pose a threat on a scale that is difficult to comprehend. With the last one occurring a thousand years ago, it raises the question: are we due for another?
