About two weeks ago, precisely on August 26, the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded what is defined as a solar tsunami, the effects in three years could be serious for the region, as leaving millions of people on the continent without internet.
The solar tsunami, classified as the Solar stain AR2859, Produced a solar flare as can be seen in the following ultraviolet gif in false negative, revealed by NASA’s SDO.
While most of the Earth exposed to the Sun was not affected by this phenomenon, some people could see internet service disrupted, in the near future, science argues because of the growing likelihood of a major solar storm occurring in about three years.
This is because the Sun is expected to reach its “solar maximum” in 2024, when it produces more electrons and protons than usual, ending with solar flares and coronal mass ejections that would create plasma clouds that would affect the Earth. in the form of a magnetic storm.
And this advocates the theory that North America is one of the most vulnerable regions in the event of a superstorm, which could leave a large mass of people without internet, and for months, Among other effects.
In this way, Internet outages cost the US economy about $ 7.2 billion a day, And therefore the effect could be more devastating than expected.
Neither climate change, nor the collapse of the economy, nor Covid-19: the Sun could be one of the causes of a possible internet apocalypse, despite the natural defenses that planet Earth itself possesses.
“The networking community has largely overlooked this risk during the design of the network topology and geodistributed systems such as DNS and data centers,” says the study by researcher Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi, of the University of California, who indicates that the network of networks is not prepared for a possible solar storm of magnitude.
The problem is exacerbated by submarine cables, which is where most of the Internet connection is located, and they are not grounded., Therefore they are more likely to suffer any interruption.
Solar storm would leave us without internet for months
In the same vein, humanity has not faced a solar superstorm event in the internet age: the last events of solar storms were recorded in 1859 and 1921, Although it is known that at that time, the event disrupted the network of telegrams, so there is no precedent for the effects.
According to Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi, high latitudes will face more risks, such as Europe and North America, Which due to their network configuration, would be more susceptible to internet outages.
In addition to citing the not-so-devastating effects for the regions of China, India and Singapore, the UK is one that could also be affected.
In this case, the archipelago could lose most of its long-distance links, retaining its connectivity with neighboring locations such as France and Norway, something different from what would happen to North America, with which it would have no contact.
In the event of a massive fault as the research warns, orbiting satellites such as the constellation Starlink could also be among the hardest hit.
“Communications and GPS satellites that are directly exposed to solar storms will suffer loss of connectivity during the event, potential damage to electronic components and, in the worst case, orbital deterioration and re-entry into Earth (particularly satellite). low Earth orbit beds like Starlink, “he says paper.
The final approach of the study goes by the authorities, and is the review of the systems of all countries with potential for failure, because the maximum of the solar cycle is only three years away.
In this line, thinking about a big internet cut of months especially in the times of home office, e-commerce and connectivity to automation, would not be beneficial for the economies still damaged by the effects of the pandemic.