Rodolfo M. La Torre Torres Prof.

Alberto Ramírez Orquín

802-05-3817 INEL 4085, Sec. 090

Solar Storm Essay

Every day, human kind becomes more reliable on technology which helps us in various fields of
interest. The advances made in engineering, medicine, biology, chemistry, etc. wouldn’t exist if it
weren’t for their reliability on technology. From a more mechanical era, the world has becomes
more dependent on computerized artifacts and machines. While this is very good for the advances
achieved, it is also dangerous if for some reason all things computerized and electricity dependant
would fail. This could set back all of the advances of the modern era.

Solar Storms occur in the sun and present themselves as entropic activity in its surface. These Solar
Storms can emit what scientists call Solar Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections, or CME’s. Solar Flares
are large explosions that erupt from the sun’s atmosphere and can produce an amount of energy
equal to 6∗1025 Joules. Solar Flares can accelerate particles to nearly the speed of light and can
heat plasma to tens of millions Kelvins. Most of the Solar Flares occur where there is a greater
intensity of magnetic fields which can be seen as “sun spots”. They produce radiation in the whole
spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays and if the Solar Flare is powerful enough it can emit
CME’s. The effect of the Solar Flares in the earth is negligible since we are protected by the
atmosphere, but the atmosphere cannot protect us from CME’s.

CME’s release amazing amounts of matter, magnetic fields, and electromagnetic radiation. The
matter ejected is plasma that consists of protons of electrons and some quantities of heavier
elements such as Helium, Oxygen, and Iron. Because of this, the CME obtains a polarity and if it
travels far enough, to the earth, it can disrupt the magnetosphere in a way that it can create an
electrical power in the terawatt scale. This can be a huge problem since electrical dependent
artifacts will have overloads of currents damaging them permanently. As for the electricity
providers, the transformers that supply the electrical energy to the population will be destroyed and
in urgent need of repairs if they are turned on while the CME disrupts the magnetosphere of the
earth.

In my opinion, evasive action must be taken to prevent the damages that the CME can cause; hence
a predetermined power outage even if this can cause some damages to the sources which power is
needed like hospitals and research centers. This can signify a small sacrifice that can be taken to
prevent a damage that can only be repaired in years to come. If this sacrifice cannot be done, then
at least be prepared for the worst anticipating the damages that can be produced and providing
early solutions for them. When the time comes the solutions can be applied to begin a more
effective repair of the damages done by the CME’s.