A solar storm could cause "an apocalypse of the Internet" from 2023

What if a spatial phenomenon could affect your Internet connection?It looks like a film script, and yet...In his study "Solar Superstorms: Planning for an Internet Apocalypse" (Sudding storms: plan an apocalypse of the Internet), the researcher at the University of California Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi reveals the impact that could have a powerful solar eruption onLand electrical networks.

What is solar rash?

So, to start, what is a solar rash?It is a normal phenomenon of sun activity.It is a simple release of energy from the star in the form of X -rays.And it is possible that part of this released energy reaches the earth.And this can take from 1 p.m. to 5 days to get there.

Has it ever happened in history?Yes !A solar storm touched our planet in 1859 and 1921, strongly disturbing the terrestrial magnetic field.The electrical infrastructure and the communication lines had then undergone breakdowns worldwide.However, at that time, the Internet network had not been deployed.We are sorely lacking in data, "said the researcher, on the extent of the risks that this would cause today.

“There is currently no model available on how it could take place.We better understand the impact of these storms on electrical systems, but all this is on earth.In the ocean, it is even more difficult to predict, ”regrets Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi.

What consequences on earth?

According to the work of Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi, a rapid cloud of solar particles could cause failures at the level of the submarine cables of telecommunications which connect the continents between them.You may not know it, but in the basement of the seas and the oceans wander more than 1.2 million kilometers of fiber optic cables.And in seabed, more than 400 cables feed the Internet network.

The solar eruption could affect the functioning of cables and thus deprive internet connection in whole countries.

Not enough to panic, these eruptions “cannot enter the atmosphere and affect humans directly, explains the researcher."However, they will interact with the terrestrial magnetic field and produce strong electric currents on the surface of the earth, which can disturb and even destroy various human technologies".

End of cycle in 2023 for the sun?

A solar eruption in the near future is not to be excluded according to the assistant physicist at the National Magnetic Observatory of France, Pierdavide Coïsson.Indeed, the sun would come to the end of a cycle between 2023 and 2026.

“The calculations we currently have does not show any risk that the land will be completely swept away by a solar eruption in the short or medium term.The risk is not zero, but the probability that this happens is tiny ”, Moderates Pierdavide Coïsson.