  It remains an open question how magnetic energy is rapidly released in the
solar corona so as to create solar explosions such as solar flares and coronal
mass ejections (CMEs). Recent studies have confirmed that a system consisting
of a flux rope embedded in a background field exhibits a catastrophic behavior,
and the energy threshold at the catastrophic point may exceed the associated
open field energy. The accumulated free energy in the corona is abruptly
released when the catastrophe takes place, and it probably serves as the main
means of energy release for CMEs at least in the initial phase. Such a release
proceeds via an ideal MHD process in contrast with nonideal ones such as
magnetic reconnection. The catastrophe results in a sudden formation of
electric current sheets, which naturally provide proper sites for fast magnetic
reconnection. The reconnection may be identified with a solar flare associated
with the CME on one hand, and produces a further acceleration of the CME on the
other. On this basis, several preliminary suggestions are made for future
observational investigations, especially with the proposed KuaFu satellites, on
the roles of the MHD catastrophe and magnetic reconnection in the magnetic
energy release associated with CMEs and flares.
