The Carrington Event was the most powerful geomagnetic storm in recorded history, triggered by a massive solar flare on September 1, 1859, that caused spectacular auroras visible globally and disrupted telegraph systems with electrical shocks, fires, and messages sent without power. If a similar event occurred today, it could devastate modern technology, causing widespread blackouts, satellite failures, and communication breakdowns, with potential economic costs in the trillions of dollars. More info
Nah, there have been bigger, even bigger ones that have hit Earth. Just not with electricity use so far. There have been big ones in recent history, too, and the grid took it relatively fine.
The Carrington Event was the most powerful geomagnetic storm in recorded history, triggered by a massive solar flare on September 1, 1859, that caused spectacular auroras visible globally and disrupted telegraph systems with electrical shocks, fires, and messages sent without power. If a similar event occurred today, it could devastate modern technology, causing widespread blackouts, satellite failures, and communication breakdowns, with potential economic costs in the trillions of dollars. More info
very cool. thanks!
No worries!
Nah, there have been bigger, even bigger ones that have hit Earth. Just not with electricity use so far. There have been big ones in recent history, too, and the grid took it relatively fine.
Wikipedia has a nice concise list at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_storms
Particularly strong ones happened in 2003, 2024, and 2025.