The biggest solar storm in five years is due to reach Earth early on Thursday, promising a beautiful display of Northern Lights, but also shaking the globe’s magnetic field. Earlier in the week, the storm began with a massive solar flare as it erupted from the sun, launching a barrage of flares, particle radiation, and blobs of plasma that have disrupted some radio communications and forced airlines to reroute northern flights. The particles from the sun will move at 4 million mph.
Scientists report the storm is the most intense storm since 2006, and will intensify on Thursday, disrupting GPS signals and stressing the North American power grid, according to Yihua Zheng, a scientist at NASA’s Space Weather Laboratory. Life on the ground will remain protected because the Earth’s magnetic field will repel the majority of the radiation. Joe Kunches, a scientist at the Space Weather Prediction Center, reported satellite operators and power companies are keeping a close watch on the activity, but the precise affect on the power grid cannot be predicted. For unknown reasons, solar activity cycles every 11 to 12 years. The current solar activity cycle is expected to peak in May 2013.
