Washington.- The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has warned of a major solar storm affecting Earth since Monday, with the potential to cause unusual northern lights in southern areas.
As of 15:00 GMT on Monday, conditions of a Level 4 geomagnetic storm, on a scale of five, were detected, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center. The agency estimates that geomagnetic effects could last several hours, although the storm is not expected to intensify.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explained in its official statement that “the severe geomagnetic storm includes the possibility of weak aurora visibility as far south as Alabama (USA) and northern California.”
The event is caused by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), explosions of solar particles that hit Earth and disrupt its magnetic field. “There are a lot of aurora right now,” astrophysicist Eric Lagadec, of the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur in France, told X Social Network. “If it lasts until nightfall here, we could see some.”
In addition to their visual appeal, solar storms can have negative effects, such as interference with high-frequency communications, disruption of satellite operations, and overloading of electrical grids. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has urged operators of critical infrastructure to implement protection protocols to reduce these risks.
The increasing frequency of these storms is due to the sun going through a period of high activity, as part of its 11-year cycle. In May, geomagnetic storms of similar intensity were recorded, causing aurora to appear in areas farther south than usual, including the United States, Europe and Australia.
fountain: With information from AFP
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