10 May 2024 , 10:02
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Space experts have warned people to brace themselves for a harsh geomagnetic storm today - which could cause chaos around the world.
Officials have warned that countries could be hit with disruption to power grids, mobile phone networks and GPS satellites. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US said the "unusual event" could happen in space on Friday, making it the first alert of this type to happen in nearly two decades.
On Thursday, NOAA issued the Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch, which was last announced in January 2005, when the earth was struck by the hugest amount of radiation it had witnessed in half a century. The warning comes after a string of solar flares occurred on Wednesday, which saw multiple expulsions of plasma from the sun, being spotted.
Scientists said the storm could take place on Friday (SDO/NASA / SWNS)Now, officials have addressed how the storm could "wipe out the internet" for millions of people from as early as 4pm GMT today. As part of the alert, the agency explains the potential impact of what happens when explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun's corona ( also known as CMEs ) occur, reports the Daily Mail.
CMEs can trigger geomagnetic storms when they are directed at Earth. "Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth's surface," officials warned. The emergency announcement said: "NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) - a division of the National Weather Service - is monitoring the sun following a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that began on May 8.
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The storms can cause 'spectacular displays of aurora' (PA)"Space weather forecasters have issued a Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for the evening of Friday. Additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend." It continued: "A large sunspot cluster has produced several moderate to strong solar flares since Wednesday at 5:00 am ET. At least five flares were associated with CMEs that appear to be Earth-directed. Geomagnetic storms can also trigger spectacular displays of aurora on Earth.
"SWPC forecasters will monitor NOAA and NASA's space assets for the onset of a geomagnetic storm. SWPC has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective action." NOAA increased the Geomagnetic Storm Watch from Moderate to Severe for Friday until Sunday. In 2003, it was reported that a G5 solar geomagnetic storm caused power outages in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa.