Solar storms can disrupt power grids, communications, satellites and navigation, and past events show the risk is real. In March 1989, a solar eruption caused a blackout in eastern Canada and damaged a power station in New Jersey. Another historic benchmark is the 1859 Carrington Event, while an even earlier event from about 13,000 years ago was later identified as the first of the so-called Miyake events, which left a trace in tree rings through changes in carbon isotopes.
The article explains that solar storms are large eruptions of charged particles, usually protons or helium nuclei, from the Sun’s corona. Those particles reach Earth a day or more later, strike the ionosphere and magnetosphere, and can produce beautiful auroras under normal conditions. In severe storms, however, they can create strong currents in the ground, damage high-voltage lines, interfere with radio links, distort satellite communications, and affect aircraft navigation systems.
Because these risks are greater in a highly connected world, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, APL, recently led a major preparedness exercise in the United States. The federally supported lab, which works closely with the Pentagon and has long helped develop strategic systems, brought together solar physicists, NASA and NOAA officials, satellite companies, power-sector leaders and emergency managers to improve response planning for a possible space-weather disaster.
The drill took place in May 2024, during the current solar maximum, the roughly 11-year cycle when the Sun is more active. According to the exercise director, Dr. Ian Cohen, the goal was to show decision-makers where research and observation gaps remain and how to communicate complex space-weather risks more effectively. During the second weekend of May, an actual solar storm arrived as the drill was underway, prompting NOAA warnings. The damage was limited, with only minor radio interference, some disruption to Starlink satellites and a few impacts on research and agricultural mapping satellites. A post-exercise report said preparedness and warning capabilities have improved, but coordination gaps still exist and the public remains insufficiently informed.
