According to a new weather report issued by the Space Weather Prediction Center from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA), a massive solar storm has hit the Earth this weekend. The space phenomenon led to the spotting of many Aurora Borealis sightings on Saturday evening, but medical experts warn that the explosion might have negative repercussions on people’s health.
The Sun is incredibly active this period, this is the conclusion that scientists have reached, based on the powerful sun storm that has hit the Earth this weekend. The explosion took place last Thursday, but the solar atmospheric material did not reach the surface of Earth earlier than Saturday’s afternoon.
The June 27 phenomenon will continue all throughout June 28 giving scientists the possibility to reach many more conclusions in relation to the event. So far, they were able to spot unique Aurora Borealis images of unusually lively colors in the southern skies.
In spite of the captivating Northern Lights that the sun storm has caused, there are many problems that the explosion could trigger. Medical experts warn people on the North American territory of the potential health risks that the sun material might cause.
Inhabitants should wear sunscreen when exposing their skin to sun light as UVA/UVB radiations tends to reach alarmingly high levels. Moreover, they should avoid sun exposure at lunch time, the most dangerous hours, according to physicians’ declarations.
The sun storm might also have unwanted consequences for electricity and power supplies. The magnetic field of the Earth is usually negatively influenced by such sun explosions causing many electrically-dependent devices to malfunction. Particularly, Internet connections and telecommunication lines might be affected by the sun storm.
Scientists at the Space Weather Prediction Center have, nevertheless, reassured people that this weekend’s storm will not be as strong and noxious as the Monday’s G4 geomagnetic storm. The former event was labeled as incredibly severe by the center on Tuesday, judging by the damages it caused a day before.
The geomagnetic storm that reached the surface of the Earth on Saturday afternoon is only a two-degree storm, based on space calculations. The institution estimated that U.S. authorities will cope very well with the present sun storm due to the experience they have gathered from past events.
The last time America confronted itself with a highly dangerous sun storm was in March 1989. The geomagnetic field caused power lines next to the Quebec-Canadian borderline to go bung and many transformers were completely ruined.
Image source: express.co.uk
zerooskul says
Here is NOAA’s three day forecast, there were no great auroras, no geomagnetic storms were observed and none are expected:
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/3-day-forecast