The light emanating from the orb in the image above looks breathtakingly magical, doesn't it? Yet, unfortunately, it is something far more sinister: it is a solar flare being emitted by the sun, and if scientists are correct, such phenomena could do everything from ruining our communication systems to practically destroying our planet. The reality about solar flares, however, probably lies somewhere in between these ideas of destruction and the mysterious beauty we see.
First, the boring stuff. Operating on an 11-year solar cycle, the sun is an always-active yet relatively predictable star. During these cycles, the intensity of solar flares gradually grows, usually causing little to no interference. Still, the intensity of solar cycles can reach a low point in the cycle, referred to as the solar minimum, and then quickly become more active and quite powerful.
The current cycle, which began on January 4, 2008 and is known as Solar Cycle 24, is expected to peak in June 2013. Researchers are predicting that this current solar cycle will be between a third and twice as intense as the last one, which happened in 2001.
Solar flares occur during the highly active part of a solar cycle. Luckily, very few solar flares are aimed directly at the Earth – and even when they are pointed our way, they're usually blocked and diverted by the Earth's protective magnetic shield, which in 'geek speak' is referred to as the magnetosphere. As said, the shield usually works...
But not always. (Now for the fun stuff!) Unfortunately for us, the Earth's magnetosphere has been weakened, and thus its ability to protect our planet is not as great as it once was. What's more, as scientists have discovered, solar flares have inflicted major damage on our planet even when the magnetosphere has been stronger.
In 1859, for example, due to a powerful solar storm, telegraph wires were shorted out in parts of the United States and Europe. In turn, this caused extensive fires in the areas affected. Also, in 1989 and 2003, parts of the US and Canada suffered blackouts due to powerful solar storms.
In the worst-case scenario, however, things could be even less rosy for our planet. A major solar flare could knock out power grids, potentially leaving 150 million people in the United States alone without electricity.
Strong solar flares could also increase the Earth's gravitational pull on satellites, causing them to crash-land on Earth and resulting in major communication losses.
Besides this breakdown of our communication systems, a major solar flare could also severely damage both our electricity and our drinking water distribution systems.
The absolute worst-case scenario, however, would be a solar flare hitting the magnetosphere strongly enough to cause the Earth's magnetic poles to completely flip over.
If this were to occur, in the United States the Yellowstone Super Volcano could explode – with the force of ten A-bombs! In a terrifying domino effect, ash would then block sunlight for months, which in turn would seriously disrupt the growth of plants, and thus the food chain.
Gee, and it all looks so pretty...