End Of Sun Premium Subscription: Solar Storms

Our solar system is full of dangerous things and constantly poses a threat to life on Earth. And recently the sun has again started making solar storms as it has been up from a long slumber sleep. And aren’t we already facing tornados, pandemics, floods, and vaccine shortages, enough to not make you look towards another natural disaster? But Mother Nature has never ceased to surprise us.

Now, first, let’s discuss what solar storms are and how they can affect us on Earth.

A solar storm sends coronal mass ejections (CMEs), containing charged particles, into space. And if our home i.e. earth stands in its way then it can slam into our atmosphere, disrupt satellites in orbit, and even cause them to fail, and bathe high-flying airplanes with radiation.

So, all in all, it is dangerous and our ‘Suraj Devta’ has decided to cancel the premium subscription for Earth for the time being. As just a few days ago the sun sent a solar storm our way releasing tons of hot gas from its surface. The Coronal mass ejection (CME) was not strong enough to affect us as our earth's atmosphere is protecting us. Nevertheless, this storm left many damaging geological impacts on Earth. It left many geological storms we have seen in years and together.

The geological storms did not affect many people or life but scientist has started worrying as this solar storm could lead to many storms shortly. Thus creating more geological storms on Earth as the sun is ‘awake from its sleep’. These CMSs are harmless to life on the surface but have a high potential of destroying power grids, restricting radio communication, and exposing airline workers and passengers to toxic radiation. They are also able to take satellites off the grid.

In 2020 the Sun began its new 11-year cycle, which is expected to peak in the year 2025. This is the reason why solar storms and their effects might get more common in the years to come. Such solar storms hit our planet 17 years ago.

Over the last two decades, our reliance on technology has increased multifold, and with the pandemic schools, businesses and doctors are also going online, hence an increase in the use of technology. Now, scientists fear that there will be a continuous increase in solar storms and hence it could potentially disrupt tech globally and also increase tenfold i.e. causing disruption everywhere on Earth.

By: Shreya Jain