Bloomberg Intelligence, a research division of the financial media company Bloomberg LP, warns that major space storms could surpass the financial impact of events like Hurricane Katrina, with disruptions to radio communications, power grids, spacecraft, and satellite navigation, as the current solar cycle peaks in 2025.
On May 10, the space weather prediction centre of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cautioned about a substantial sunspot cluster producing intense solar flares. Several of these flares, accompanied by associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs), were directed towards Earth.
CMEs consist of bursts of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun’s corona, capable of triggering magnetic storms on Earth. This phenomenon has the potential to disrupt various infrastructures, including those in near-Earth orbit and on the planet’s surface, leading to disruptions in communications, electric power grids, navigation systems, radio frequencies, and satellite operations.
Charles Graham, BI Senior Industry Analyst – Insurance, commented: “Evidence from May 10-12 suggests the level of disruption caused by the solar storm on this occasion was relatively modest. There were no significant power failures, though extreme deviations in electrical wave patterns were widely observed across the US. Elon Musk’s Space X Starlink internet constellation reported a degraded service, but it quickly returned to normal.
“The storm was also sufficient to result in navigational errors in tractors and other equipment relying on GPS and drove some farmers in the US and Canada to halt planting. Aircraft were also diverted to reduce the exposure of passengers and crew to radiation.
“The outcome could nevertheless have been much worse, which explains why the UK regards space storms as one of the highest priority natural hazards in its National Risk Register,” further added Graham.
The G5 classification of the event represents the highest level on the space weather prediction centre’s geomagnetic storm warning scale. BI highlights that the last G5 storm in October 2003 resulted in power outages in Sweden and inflicted damage on transformers in South Africa.
According to BI, the timely notification of solar storm occurrences could be crucial in safeguarding a progressively interconnected digital sphere. The planet benefits from a network of space weather prediction centres, such as the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado, and the Met Office in the UK. A primary aspect of their endeavours involves monitoring solar phenomena to detect the approach of solar flares and coronal mass ejections towards Earth.
