Mumbai, April 18: The last solar storm to affect Earth happened almost a week ago. Furthermore, it was a rather modest storm that had little impact on us. The worst was over the Indian Ocean area, when a brief radio blackout was noticed. But a swift decline in the situation is set to occur. A massive solar storm that could hit Earth has been warned about by NASA. Glancing blows are anticipated for the first strike tomorrow, April 19, and a significant direct hit is anticipated for April 20. The impact might be much more hazardous if this solar storm does make contact with Earth. G4 Class Geomagnetic Storm Hits Earth Catching Forecasters by Surprise. 

The information was provided by Tamitha Skov, also known as Space Weather Woman, a physicist who studies space weather. She tweeted, "Ready for #aurora? A #solarstorm direct hit is coming. NASA predicts impact 20 April. Additional glancing storms launched earlier mean activity could pick up late on April 19. Expect extended aurora at high latitudes with good chance of views down to mid- latitudes by the 20th".

Tamitha Skov on Twitter

Possible Impacts of the Upcoming Solar Storm

A significant coronal mass ejection (CME) cloud that is moving towards Earth is the cause of this solar storm. Glancing blows are anticipated prior to direct hits because of the cloud's crescent-shaped motion. However, this limited strike may have unsettling repercussions. It has the power to weaken the Earth's magnetic fields to the point where cracks appear in the planet's surface, allowing CME to escape into the upper atmosphere and trigger a storm with a much higher intensity.

In addition, Skov has stated that there is a 10% possibility for an X-class solar flare explosion on Sun in her weekly forecast. The primary cause of GPS malfunction and shortwave radio blackouts is such eruptions. The overall damage could worsen if such an eruption occurs at the same time as the solar storm. Is Doomsday Arriving? Solar Storm Could Strike Earth As NASA Detects Ring-Shaped Sunspot on Sun.

Such a solar storm can be extremely dangerous today. It can interfere with GPS, hinder mobile and internet networks, and even bring about a severe power outage by tampering with power systems. Even Earth's electronic equipment is susceptible to breakdown.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 18, 2023 10:11 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).