Earth May Be Twice As Vulnerable to Extreme Solar Storms As Scientists Thought

Researchers from NASA Goddard and Lancaster University say a seeming cap on geomagnetic disturbance is likely a statistical artifact caused by uncertainty between solar-wind measurements at L1 and conditions reaching Earth.

Published in Nature, the study argues Earth’s upper atmosphere may keep responding more strongly as solar storms intensify, meaning the worst space-weather impacts could be about twice as severe as older models estimated.

That would raise the risk to satellites, GPS and radio links, aviation operations, astronauts, and electrical power grids that depend on space-weather-sensitive systems.

The takeaway: Earth may be more vulnerable to rare extreme solar storms than previously thought.