A tsunami of solar particles could wreak havoc on planet earth
Solar flares on the surface of the sun. (Natural Resources Canada)
Large-scale eruptions on the surface of the sun can create solar-particle waves that damage satellites and disrupt power grids — not to mention the GPS in your car.
Canadian Space Weather Forecast Centre at Natural Resources Canada are testing for the potential of a solar flare hitting the earth. (Steve Fischer/CBC)
Scientists at the Canadian Space Weather Forecast Centre are now preparing for the next big event.
At their command centre near the Mer Bleue Conservation Area in Ottawa, scientists are using an array of highly specialized instruments to test for geomagnetic activity.
Heightened levels are an indicator of solar flares and their evil twin, Coronal Mass Ejections or CMEs.
CMEs cause extensive damage
CMEs are massive eruptions on the surface of the sun that send a tsunami of particles into the solar system — and can dramatically change the earth’s magnetic field once they arrive here.
Fortunately, a CME in 2012 missed earth but others have hit here with disastrous effects.
The biggest CME on record to strike our planet came in August 1859, creating an aurora so bright you could read a newspaper by it at night across much of North America.
Within minutes the event caused extensive damage to the telegraph system, the only large scale telecommunications network at the time.
Now our dependence on electricity and satellite-based navigation systems make the world, and Canada much more vulnerable to CMEs.
Canada especially vulnerable
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