Will geomagnetic storm affect those traveling by plane? We tell you

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), formerly the National Weather Service, reported “extreme geomagnetic conditions” for the first time since October 2003 that could continue over the weekend due to the geomagnetic storm. .

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This has potential for severely harm the energy and electricity supply in different parts of the Earthbut it is also expected to leave unusual phenomena such as the northern lights in areas as diverse as southern Alabama or northern California.

NOAA, the scientific agency in charge of monitoring the conditions of the atmosphere and oceans, issued a alert on the G5 scale (the maximum on a G1-G5 scale) after several days of intense solar activity which increased on Friday, as reported in a statement issued on their social networks.

A G5 geomagnetic storm can cause widespread voltage control problems in the electrical grid, damaging transformers and even causing complete blackouts.

“Geomagnetic storms can affect infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on the Earth’s surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electrical power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations,” he had detailed shortly before. NOAA.

The agency also observed a moderate solar radiation storm that could expose people traveling by plane to an “elevated radiation risk” and could cause rare problems in satellite operations.

However, the same phenomenon that causes these interruptions is also responsible for allowing the northern lights to be glimpsed in places where they are not normally seen.” The Earth’s magnetic field guides electrons in such a way that the aurora forms two approximately centered ovals at the magnetic poles,” explains NOAA.

The The last time an “extreme” G5 geomagnetic storm occurred was in October 2003when it caused power outages in Sweden and damaged transformers in South Africa.

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