A major solar storm can knock out the power grid and the Internet

The risk of a potential solar storm (although it is more correct to speak of a "geomagnetic storm") has been worrying scientists for years.

The last big case, gone down in history as Carrington event, has brought with it catastrophic consequences for the entire power line. Between 1 and 2 September 1859, telegraph systems around the world have stopped working.
Operators spoke of "strange behaviors," including equipment capable of operating even with the batteries disconnected. The famous phenomenon of the Northern Lights (usually visible only in Scandinavia, Siberia and northern Canada) was visible up to the extreme south of Colombia. 

The Carrington event originated from a geomagnetic storm, itself caused by a giant bubble of superheated gas (plasma) ejected from the sun's surface towards Earth. Scientists speak of "coronal mass ejection", something that occurs very few times over thousands of years.

What causes a solar storm

David Wallace explains, an electrical engineer specializing in the electrical grid, studies geomagnetic storms and methods to "protect themselves" from their arrival.

As absurd as it is, the Carrington event is not the only solar storm recorded over the years.

Antarctic ice cores showed evidence of a geomagnetic storm in AD 774 (Miyake event). We also know that a smaller storm occurred around AD 993 

On average, the phenomenon occurs once every 500 years, with more or less serious consequences depending on the case.

Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses the scale of geomagnetic storms - called "G Scale" - to measure the strength of each solar storm. The rating on this scale ranges from 1 to 5, where G1 is the smallest and G5 the largest.

Among the various consequences of these events the increase in carbon-14 must be considered. Geomagnetic storms trigger large amounts of cosmic rays in Earth's upper atmosphere, which in turn produce carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon.

All this does nothing but increase the level of danger and "unknown" of a future storm. We simply don't know what to expect.

The consequences on today's world

Today, a solar storm of the same intensity as the Carrington event could have truly catastrophic consequences.

The interruption (even if temporary) of the electricity grid would lead to the loss of a lot of money and a lot of resources.

The solar storm would affect most of the electrical systems that people use every day.

In addition to causing a variety of electrical failures, the storm would damage communications on a global scale.

Internet may fail, high-frequency communication systems will be disrupted, satellites orbiting the Earth may be damaged by currents. All this, simultaneously with the interruption of satellite telephony, radio and television. Navigation systems would then inevitably be affected, damaging all means of transport that use GPS.  

Speaking of the Internet, a geomagnetic storm could produce geomagnetically induced currents in undersea and land cables, destroying not only the Internet, but also all data centers that store and process any digital information.

We must prepare

We don't know when the Earth will be hit by the next solar storm, but sadly we know it's only a matter of time.

A “Carrington-type” storm would be detrimental to all electrical / communications systems in the world. Network outages could last for weeks, and some servers could be severely damaged.

A "Miyake-like" storm could cause disruptions lasting months. 

For this, David Wallace believes it is vital to continue to research ways to protect electrical systems from the effects of geomagnetic storms. He himself proposed to install devices capable of shielding vulnerable equipment , so as to help systems regulate network loads. 

The earlier the research work begins, the better prepared we will be for the next solar storm.