The billions of tons of plasma released from the sun this week are racing toward Earth, and could unleash the worst solar storm our planet has witnessed in 165 years.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed Friday that the worst-case scenario would be what happened during the 1859 Carrington event – but our modern-day society could see widespread electrical disruptions, blackouts and damage to critical infrastructure.
Scientists have also predicted that three of the five streams, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), could combine to create a powerful ‘cannibal CME.’
Data about what is in store for our planet will likely be captured around 8 pm ET when the explosions of plasma racing through space will be one million miles from our planet – and NOAA plans to issue alerts immediately.
This is a developing story… More updates to come.
At least five streams of plasma are barreling toward Earth, which officials said could unfold like the worst geomagnetic super-storm in history when they make impact Friday night
‘We anticipate we will get one shock after another. We are really buckling down here,’ Clinton Wallace, director of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), said during the Friday media briefing.
While officials are predicting an event a step below than Carrington, which was a geomagnetic storm level 5 (G5), they are not discounting that we could reach a an event on the lower end of the same measurement that ranges from G1 to G5.
The cannibal CME is predicted to spark G3 storms, while the other two could reach G4.
‘We are a little concerned because we have not seen this in a long time, [which is why] we thought it warranted special attention, ‘ said Dahl.
‘We have discussed this with FEMA because they need to know, not that we are expecting a catastrophic collapse.’
