Geomagnetic Storm

Geomagnetic Storm

News: The earth is likely to hit by a geomagnetic storm on 7th April, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

About:
• Geomagnetic storms are caused when events such as solar flares can send higher than normal levels of radiation towards Earth. This radiation interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field causing a geomagnetic storm.
• The disturbance that drives the magnetic storm may be a solar coronal mass ejection (CME) or (much less severely) a co-rotating interaction region (CIR), a high-speed stream of solar wind originating from a coronal hole.

Classification:
• At itssafest level, a G1storm affects power grids by causing weak fluctuations, minor impacts on satellite operations, and causes the northern and southern lights to occur.
• At itsmost extreme, G5, there would be voltage control problems with some grid system collapses or blackouts, radio waves wouldn’t be able to travel for one to two days, low-frequency radio would be out for hours, and the auroras would be able to be seen at lower latitudes than usual.

Trivia:
• In February this year, Elon Musk’sStarlink project was hit hard when a geomagnetic storm damaged 40 of its satellites.