Physicists from Trinity College Dublin have developed a solar storm alarm system that will soon allow us to see exactly when a solar storm on the sun occurs and thereby prepare our electronics systems accordingly. Occasionally, the Earth finds itself in the firing line of massive bursts of solar radiation, that whilst not a physical threat, could disturb the magnetic field which in turn would lead to electronically-powered devices and power grids to overload, causing huge disruptions. Looking at examples, the recent St Patrick’s Day solar flare that created beautiful northern lights above the skies of Ireland posed no threat to those below, but the 1989 solar flare that struck the atmosphere above Canada in 1989 knocked out power for 6m Canadians, disrupted radio communications and cost the country’s government CA$13bn (€9bn) in damages. The new system, called Solar Storm Alert, is being tested at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) near Teddington in Oxfordshire.
Physicists from Trinity College Dublin have developed a solar storm alarm system that will soon allow us to see exactly when a solar storm on the sun occurs and thereby prepare our electronics systems accordingly. Occasionally, the Earth finds itself in the firing line of massive bursts of solar radiation, that whilst not a physical threat, could disturb the magnetic field which in turn would lead to electronically-powered devices and power grids to overload, causing huge disruptions. The new system, called Solar Storm Alert, is being tested at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) near Teddington in Oxfordshire.