The strongest geomagnetic storms in the last 20 years are on their way to Earth – even the Internet can “break”

A severe G4 geomagnetic storm could hit Earth on Friday, marking the first time a storm of this magnitude has occurred in nearly 20 years. After several days of solar activity, several waves of plasma and magnetic field explosions are on their way to Earth, writes CBS News.

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G4 is the second strongest type of geomagnetic storm and is known to cause widespread voltage control problems. It can also cause defense systems to be ‘disconnected from the main grids’ and can even cause spacecraft orientation problems. An ‘unusual’ solar storm can disrupt electronic devices such as GPS and the power grid.

In some areas, it can even “wipe out the internet,” which ISPs have warned.

Geomagnetic storms can affect infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on the Earth’s surface, potentially disrupting communications, power grids, navigation, radio and satellite operations. The Space Weather Prediction Center has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective measures.

This is the first time since January 2005 that a G4 alert has been issued for the storm. At that time, the earth was hit by the highest dose of radiation in the last 50 years.

Each solar cycle averages 100 strong geomagnetic storms, but so far only three have been observed in the most recent cycle, which began in December 2019. The last one took place on March 23.

The last time a G5, or extreme geomagnetic storm, occurred was in October 2003, when it caused power outages in Sweden and damaged transformers in South Africa.

“If geomagnetic storms were hurricanes, ‘severe’ would be Category 4,” according to SpaceWeather.com.

Thursday’s statement said the latest series of solar events began on May 8, when a large cluster of sunspots produced “several moderate to strong flares.” Solar flares are bursts of radiation known to be the largest explosive event in the Solar System, according to NASA. The area where the recent flares took place is 16 times the diameter of Earth, and even more solar activity is expected.

This sunspot is so big that you might be able to see it with the eyes — using solar eclipse glasses. The location is known as AR3664. It measures about 124,000 miles and is one of the “largest and most active sunspots observed this cycle,” according to Space.com.

There have also been a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are explosions of plasma and magnetic fields that erupt from the Sun’s corona, the outermost part of the Sun’s atmosphere. At least five CMEs appear to be headed toward Earth and could affect it by Sunday, the agency reported. “This is an unusual event.”

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