There have been a lot of movies about the end of the world in recent years, some of which are about the subject, but more vital is the possibility of it happening in reality.
What would we do if something bad happened to us in the universe? What chance do we have against the forces of the universe? When we think of apocalyptic events that could strike our planet from far away, we normally think of asteroids, because 6.6 million years ago meteorite ended the age of the dinosaurs. But there's really another threat lurking near Earth that scientists fear might really happen one day: the sun.
Scientists have predicted that there is a strong probability that Earth will be hit by a deadly solar storm in 2025, and numerous have questioned the truth. In fact, news of the first confirmed solar storm in history came in early 2021. This spectacular space weather event was really recorded back in August 2014 as a 1,000km-wide swirl of electrons clustered hundreds of kilometres above the North Pole.
At the time, it was hardly noticed, though it had reportedly been raging for more than eight hours. Because it's the height of summer, the auroras in the Arctic sky don't even give enough indication that a hurricane is underway. Thus people on Earth went about their daily lives as usual, and apart from some minor disturbances felt by a limited number of satellites, everything was normal. But these things work in cycles, and the next peak will come in 2025. So what should we do?39bet-xì dách-phỏm miền bắc-tiến lên miền bắc-xóc đĩa-game bắn cá
Next time, according to some, the impact could be worse. In fact, solar storms are simply one of a series of space weather events that bombard Earth. Most of what happens in the upper atmosphere can be traced back to the Sun, except that it may be a crucial part of the solar system, but much about the sun remains shrouded in mystery. In recent decades, we've studied it in greater detail, and while the sunstone, the source of Earth's energy, offers hope and beauty, its extreme power is also very dangerous. If it weren't for Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere, our world would be extremely different, like Mars, not to mention populated!
In September 2020, a team of scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released details of the so-called solar Cycle 25 to the public. And December 2019 was the lowest, and since then, solar activity has only gradually increased, so based on the data, scientists know we've entered a different cycle. The sun typically has an 11-year cycle until July 2025, when solar activity will again reach its maximum. So what do we mean by solar activity?
It's really measured primarily by the number of sunspots visible on the sun's surface, which are temporarily darker areas of the sun that are normally associated with various solar phenomena, including increased radiation, solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Typically, solar flares are unaffected when they erupt from the sun and Earth. Instead, they hit another region of space and head toward different planets. But occasionally, when a flare or coronal mass ejection comes out of the sun in our direction, it's a huge deal.
But history tells us that the solar wind's influence on Earth can be large or minor. In 2012, we received a warning from scientists when a coronal mass ejection was headed for Earth, which fortunately did not face a direct hit. But 2025 is quickly approaching, and if this solar wind hits Earth directly, the consequences could be serious.
What would happen if a lot of solar wind hit the Earth? We understand that our current technology is heavily dependent on what happens in the Earth's atmosphere, where all of our satellites are orbiting, and satellites are directly exposed to solar storms. While the electric rain of a solar storm may not cause physical damage on the ground like the rain and winds of a conventional hurricane, similarly, conventional hurricanes are not strong enough to threaten the widespread use of GPS. The storm surge will, of course, cause some power outages. But space weather has the potential to cause international blackouts, and not just in the intended way.
The 2012 solar storm was dubbed a "Carrington superstar" by numerous because it was close to the size of the Carrington event. The Carrington event was a huge solar storm that hit Earth in September 1859, an event that set the standard for future space weather and caused widespread power outages at the time. But, of course, the Earth was a very different place back then, and widespread power outages would never have had the same impact as they do today. If a powerful sufficient Carrington event were to occur tomorrow, the damage it could cause would be enormous.
Let's say all or most of our satellites are damaged. Communication technology will suffer considerably. We will not even have basic telephone signals, all emergency services will be disabled, humanity will go straight back to the era of cold weapons. It won't work without satellite TV, much of the Internet will shutdown, and the rest will be extremely gradual. No credit or debit cards. Atms are also not working. You will find yourself in the middle of a personal financial crisis, but that is nothing compared to what is happening at the banks themselves or in the stock market. A blackout at this point is equivalent to an economic catastrophe on a global scale. Finally, when all of this unfolded, the satnav stopped and the GPS failed.
The scariest are the planes in the air, all of which rely on GPS, and when their maps go blank, it will be an unprecedented disaster and numerous flights will not be able to land safely. Of course, we're talking about a worst-case scenario. No one is currently predicting that will happen in 2025. But as we rely more and more on satellite technology, we'll have to start worrying about the impact of solar storms in 2025. Clearly, we can't stop solar storms or coronal mass ejections, but in the meantime, we have to rely on satellite technology. That's why scientists think 2025 could be a turning point for humanity.
Between now and then, scientists will undoubtedly expect solar activity to increase to the next peak before falling again, as it has in every previous solar cycle. Early predictions also suggest that this cycle will be more active than the previous solar cycle 24. However, most forecasts do not see significant differences, and numerous early reports suggest that Cycle 25 remains weaker than average. But there is no doubt that by 2025 the world will be more dependent on satellite technology. Then anything that threatens it is a major problem. So could a genuinely deadly solar storm happen? It is possible. The only thing the Earth can do now is to be prepared, just in case. Do you think the human race will survive this?