According to experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)for Sunday June 5 and Monday 6, a solar flare is expected to approach the Earth’s magnetic field and cause a geomagnetic storm. In this context, the specialists evaluated the possible consequences that the phenomenon might cause.
In fact, meteorologists confirmed that on June 2 there was an eruption on the sun that sent a solar flare into space, known as coronal mass ejection (CME). These waves are “huge ejections of plasma from the sun’s outer shell, or corona, and can cause fluctuations in the electrical grid,” according to the report. European Space Agency (ESA).
“Yesterday, a magnetic filament in the sun erupted and threw a weak CME into space,” they explained from the organization. It should be clarified that weak CME hits can cause geomagnetic stormsso there is a possibility of minor storms.
The encouraging fact is that, in general, humans are protected from CMEs by the earth’s magnetic field. Therefore, experts explain that you will most likely only see small fluctuations in the power grid and perhaps a minor deterioration of satellite communication.
“Migratory animals are affected in this and other higher places; the aurora is commonly visible at high latitudes,” they added. Nevertheless, the most serious consequences of solar flares cannot always be stopped.
According to Space Weather, solar storms that hit Earth are classified according to their severity. In fact, on the site that studies spatial conditions, they point out how scale is defined. The one that includes the recent meteorological phenomenon is the G1, the lightest category. While a G5 storm is considered “extreme.”
According to him National Geographic Institute español, “Geomagnetic storms are disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field, lasting from several hours to even a few days.. “Their origin is external and they are produced by a sudden increase in the particles emitted in solar flares that reach the magnetosphere, producing alterations in the Earth’s magnetic field,” they pointed out.
Likewise, they have a global character and start simultaneously at all points on Earth. However, the amplitudes with which storms are observed in different places are different, being greater the higher the latitudes.
“The frequency with which they occur is related to the periods of solar activity, from regarding 11 years long and is known as the ‘solar cycle’. The number of sunspots allows us to quantify the solar activity at each moment”, they specify in the entity.
“The K index is a quasi-logarithmic type geomagnetic index that indicates the disturbance of the geomagnetic field at a local level, taking as reference the daily variation curve of a calm day of the geomagnetic observatory in which it is measured, during intervals of three hours. At a planetary level, the Kp index is defined, which is obtained by calculating the weighted average of the K indices observed in a network of geomagnetic observatories scattered around the world”, they conclude.
