An enormous solar storm has once devastated the Earth and could be brewing up just around the corner.
The storm that changed the face of the earth about 2,600 years ago was ten times stronger than what people predicted it to be using the most technologically advanced tools.
While people of 660 BC did not fear for they didn't know what was coming, the effect of such news to modern society would be totally different. Everyone would be concern about how it would affect satellites, electrical system, and communications all over the world.
Solar storms are known to be triggered by flares of cosmic particles that stream towards the orbit of the Earth. It brings with it a huge magnetic field that could interfere with various technologies of the world, not to mention the damage it could cause to satellites orbiting the earth's atmosphere.
Although it is only the third kind of storm of its kind that has been identified by scientists, the experts say that people have the tendency to underestimate such types of storms and that they urge everyone to become more vigilant.
"We don't have any idea when these things could occur and how often they would take place. What we could only say now is that it probably could happen repeatedly several times in a lifetime," Dr. Raimund Muscheler, a professor at Lund University, told The Independent.
"If the storm happened today, its destructive effect on today's technology would have been massive."
There have been relatively minor space storms that have struck the atmosphere in recent years. Such storms have caused the loss of electricity in both Canada and Sweden.
Previously, scientists have warned the people of the devastation it is causing the earth and such would bring about storms in the atmosphere that could cause huge destruction of people's technology. Such devastation could cause bigger storms to come. The difficult part is predicting when these storms would come and what countries would be affected by it.
Considering the previous effects the space storm has on Earth, scientists have concluded that these space storms are probably a normal part of the Sun's survival cycle. To those who were alive at that time, the space storm may have only given them comparably pleasant effects. For example, they might have seen the Northern Lights in a relatively lower altitude.
However, given the capacity of the space storm to cause destruction on Earth and its technology, the scientists say that such a threat should be a cause for alarm.
"People should take it more seriously, considering both land and space adaptation strategies," said Dr. Muscheler.
