Scientists issue urgent warning over solar storm threats — blackouts, grid breakdowns, ‘internet apocalypse' could be on the horizon
We hope the grid's equipped with a sun-screen.
Scientists claim we're not prepared for the solar storms threatening Earth, which could cause cataclysmic blackouts, grid breakdowns and even an 'internet apocalypse,' according to a frightening 'emergency drill' conducted by a coalition of government agencies.
The warning came after Earth was struck by a series of X-class solar flares — the highest magnitude of these intense radiation bursts — that erupted from the extremely active sunspot AR4087, CTV news reported.
The first sun ray was an X1.2 that occurred Monday, May 13 at around 11:38am. This was followed the next morning by X2.7-class solar flare, which sparked radio blackouts spanning North and South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, Livescience reported.
3 Last May, the Federal Emergency Management Agency hosted a space weather tabletop exercise utilizing multiple agencies across the U.S., including the 140th Wing and 233d Space Group, to generate no-fault dialogue about various challenges associated with preparing for and responding to an impending space weather event.
Staff Sgt. Luccario Lovato/U.S. Air National Guard
Unfortunately, we'll only see more of these solar flare-ups as sunspot AR4087 swivels closer into view — like a giant interstellar death ray.
To assess our ability to handle a massive sunburst, the federal government released the results of an emergency exercise conducted by the Space Weather Operations, Research, and Mitigation (SWORM), a task force that includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and other agencies.
Conducted in May 2024, the 'Space Weather Tabletop Exercise was set in January 2028 and involved different magnitudes of geomagnetic storms.' These occur when the Sun sends energy and charged particles into space in a phenomenon known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), IFL Science reported.
3 NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare (circled) on May 14.
NASA/SDO / SWNS
The largest was a 'solar superstorm' that hypothetically caused an internet apocalypse, disrupted the US power grid, and caused blackouts across the Eastern seaboard that lasted for weeks, The Daily Mail reported. This hypothetical solar meltdown also knocked railways and pipelines offline, impacting travel nationwide and sent gas prices into the stratosphere, per the report.
During this fictitious scenario, each agency was tasked with assessing and handling the fallout of an active solar region that's turning to face us — a dead ringer for our current real-life predicament of being in the crosshairs of the AR4087 sunspot, Popular Science reported.
3 'Space weather is a complex subject and its potential impacts are not well understood outside of NOAA and NASA,' read the report
juliars – stock.adobe.com
To compound the simulated crisis, a two-astronaut Orion spacecraft crew was flying to the Moon, while another pair of Artemis astronauts had already touched down on the lunar surface.
Unfortunately, participants failed to formulate a good protocol for this catastrophic hypothetical.
Participants said the most difficult task was evaluating the impact of a coronal mass ejection (CME), which can only be detected 30 minutes before it reaches Earth, making preparation all but impossible.
'Space weather is a complex subject and its potential impacts are not well understood outside of NOAA and NASA,' reads the report.
SWORM added that participants also lacked the 'space weather expertise' necessary to 'translate the scientific information and determine what the specific impacts would be on Earth.'
'There is a strong need to educate not only government and agency staff but the general public, as well,' they declared.
In light of the backfired drill, SWORM recommends investing in solar storm-detecting tech and upping collaboration between US agencies, international allies, and private companies.
'Ongoing preparedness efforts for a space weather event are crucial because an extreme event has the potential to severely impact our nation's critical infrastructure and threaten our national security,' the report stated,' they wrote. 'Just as we prepare for earthquakes, hurricanes, and cyberattacks, our nation must take action before a major space weather event occurs.'
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