Scientists are warning that the world could face transmission problems and blackouts in the coming days, as the strongest category of solar flares could be emitted this week.
The warnings come from scientists in both the U.S. and Russia, according to a report from Reuters. On Sunday, Moscow’s Fedorov Institute of Applied Geophysics shared that three solar flares were observed that day, all believed to be X-class flares.
NASA refers to X-class flares as “the real juggernauts” and are described as “explosions on the surface of the sun ranging from minutes to hours in length.”
The space agency shared that the larger flares are so powerful that they “release enough energy to power the entire United States for a million years.”
“A powerful X-class flare like that can create long-lasting radiation storms, which can harm satellites, and even give airline passengers flying near the poles small radiation doses,” the agency said. “X flares also have the potential to create global transmission problems and worldwide blackouts.”
The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center shared a forecast for the solar event. It said that there was a “chance” of the event occurring Monday or Tuesday, with the possibility dropping to a “slight chance” on Wednesday.
On the center’s radio blackout scale, NOAA shared that the events on Tuesday could be an R3, meaning they could cause a “wide area blackout of HF radio communication.” The center says there is 25% this happens, with some parts of the Earth potentially losing radio contact for roughly an hour.
NOAA shared on Monday that blackouts were observed, though it did not explain where on Earth. Through Wednesday, the agency shared there is at least a 50% chance of smaller radio blackouts. There is only a 15% chance of an R3-level blackout on Wednesday.
It is important to remember that while they may be inconvenient, most solar flares aren’t dangerous to humans on Earth, according to NASA.
“Earth’s atmosphere absorbs most of the Sun’s intense radiation, so flares are not directly harmful to humans on the ground,” NASA says. “However, the radiation from a flare can be harmful to astronauts outside of Earth’s atmosphere, and they can affect the technology we rely on.”
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