Good, because I am always up-to-date with current events happening around the world.
Bad, because I get like 800 messages sent to phone from CNN a day and Tony finds it extremely annoying. Also bad, because sometimes (ok a lot of the time), the news is usually bad and it just scares the heck out of me! (Ask Tony, I cry whenever something comes on TV about the end of the world). But news to me is just like a scary movie, you can't help but keep watching!
As I was writing out the bad qualities of being a news freak, I ironically received a CNN update on my phone.
But anyways, there has been a recent story that has caught my attention not only because I find it interesting, but I find it something that is worth while to be educated about. CNN released their story this morning stating that radiation from solar storms began to hit Earth this morning!
Sorry for all you nail biters.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center (wow long title), radiation from two massive solar flares emitted from the sun on Tuesday and began hitting Earth's atmosphere this morning.
What's a Solar Flare you ask? Well from my knowledge (haha syke! I googled it), It's an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots. Flares are our solar system’s largest explosive events. They are seen as bright areas on the sun and they can last from minutes to hours.
This is what a solar flare looks like if you are looking at the sun from afar. The bright spots are solar flares.
Anyways, I am not going to pretend that I am a scientist and know everything about solar storms. Pretending to be a scientist is so 3rd grade.....
According to the article, the flares bring a strong solar radiation storm which is capable (and has before) disrupting satellite operations and high-frequency radio transmissions. These flares can also bring a strong geomagnetic storm to Earth, which can bring problems to power grids and low-frequency radio communications.
There have been solar storms in the past that have interfered with satellite and radio transmissions so much, that airports had to close or delay flights due to not being able to communicate. In 1989, a strong solar storm knocked out the power grid in Quebec, causing 6 million people to lose power. It's not until something like this happens when you begin to realize how much we rely on satellite, radio and technology in general.
The cool and beautiful thing about a solar storm however, is that they are responsible for beautiful auroras.
No not princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, but the kind of aurora that most of you would probably prefer to see when dancing with mary-jane. (Noooo, just kidding)
When the solar storm is strong, those lights may be visible as far south as Oregon and Illinois and they have been a popular tourist attraction for many years! (Not to mention a great photo opportunity for those photo lovers as well!)
One of the two solar storms from Tuesday was the strongest observed in more than five years and scientists say that the planet lucked out. Thus far, Earth has not encountered any harmful power outage but the solar flare is still facing earth and still has potential for damage.
The sun is in a cycle of increased sun spots. This is part of an 11-year cycle that is expected to peak over the next year. Solar storms have three ways they can disrupt technology on Earth: with magnetic, radio and radiation emissions. Although it's an unusual situation for all three types of solar storm disruptions to be strong, there is still the potential for problems to be widespread and it is still something that can cause fear in our everyday lives.
Jo(W)anna know what though? Just like the "end of the world", solar storms and the effects that they cause are uncontrollable and out of our hands and yes, cause beautiful lights. We just have to live each day for what it's worth and if something happens, then we deal with it then!
Sorry if I made you worry about the end of the world in addition to these solar storms, but you should know... those silly mayans were just a bunch of joksters anyways....
If you would like to read more about this recent solar storm, click here!
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