Effects of Space Weather

Source: Freepik

You may already believe that the natural disasters from Earth are violent and unlike anything ever witnessed before. Though that may be true, it is nothing compared to weather coming into Earth. 

There are many differences between the two though, as space weather has more magnitude and power than Earth’s weather and it does not rely on atmospheric or surrounding conditions. Space weather can be formed through charged particles that are invisible but can highly damage the surface area of Earth. Some common examples of space weather are solar flares, ultraviolet radiation, and radio waves.

Luckily, Earth can protect itself from some of these major space weather events if it is small enough. As Earth can protect itself from solar flares by the Sun through the use of its magnetosphere. However, if it is big enough, a solar flare from the Sun can instantly wipe out all of Earth due to the radiation and power from the Sun. 

You may think that these space weather events are short-term with high impact, but it can persist long-term aswell. For example, a solar wind that can be small enough not to destroy Earth, but big enough to go through some of the magnetosphere from Earth, can penetrate into Earth and cause a geomagnetic storm. This can swell and damage the thermosphere of Earth and led to colorful auroras in the sky, but also disrupt many signals throughout Earth. 

All in all, the destructiveness of space events can potentially decimate all of Earth, but in history, Earth has been able to protect or avoid most of these weather events. Still, from now to the future, the Sun will only grow more in power and the Earth will only experience more space weather effects unless action is taken to save future generations.

References

Education, U. C. for S. (n.d.). Center for Science Education. What Is Space Weather and How Does It Affect the Earth? | Center for Science Education. https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/sun-space-weather/what-space-weather