Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery – evidence of the largest solar storm in history. If this storm were to occur today, it would have catastrophic consequences for our world. This astonishing find was reported by the BBC. The team of researchers studied slices of ancient trees found along the banks of the Drouzet River in the French Alps. These trees are undergoing the fossilization process and provided valuable data. They found a significant increase in radiocarbon levels dating back 14,300 years. By comparing the radiocarbon levels to measurements of beryllium in Greenland ice cores, which provide records of solar activity, the researchers concluded that this spike was caused by the most massive solar storm ever recorded. The storm unleashed vast amounts of energetic particles into the atmosphere, as explained in a press release.
Recent studies have shown that extreme solar events, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, can produce short bursts of energetic particles. These bursts create enormous spikes in radiocarbon production over the course of a single year. Edouard Bard, the lead author of the study, from the European Centre for Research and Teaching in Environmental Geosciences, explains that “radiocarbon is constantly being produced in the upper atmosphere through a chain of reactions initiated by cosmic rays.” He adds that it is crucial to understand these events and their causes because a similar storm today could cause irreversible damage to our electricity grids, leading to months-long blackouts. Furthermore, the storm could permanently disable our navigation and telecommunication satellites, and pose serious radiation risks to astronauts. The study, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, identifies this as the ninth extreme solar storm, or Miayake Event, found within the last 15,000 years, with the most recent occurring in the year 774 and being half as powerful as the one discussed in this research. (Read more solar storm stories.)
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