Humanity's next big 'catastrophe' could lie in the Sun, predict scientists

How will the world end? A flood that drowns everyone? A fiery meteor that herds us to the same end that met the mighty dinosaurs? Or an air-bornvirus that destroys us from the inside?

Turns out, our end may lie in a solar storm. Scientists have found proof of a gargantuan storm that struck our Earth some 14,300 years ago, and which they say if happens today "could be catastrophic for society."

Largest-ever solar storm

Remains of a tree along the Drouzet River in the French Alps revealed fascinating evidence.

Annual growth rings of the stump of the Scots pine tree revealed radiocarbons, an isotope released by the sun during solar storms.

This could be the largest solar storm ever, even trumping the Carrington Event, which in 1859 caused an unprecedented geomagnetic storm around the globe and created "a nighttime aurora so bright that birds sang as if the sun was rising".

In fact, as per estimates, this solar storm from more than 14,000 years ago was probably 10 times the late 1800s storm that caused telegraph systems to go haywire.

What if it happened today?

As per scientists, if such a solar storm struck Earth today, the effects would be "catastrophic."

One thing you should know about such storms is that they tend to knock out electronics, and as per Edouard Bard, a professor of climate and ocean evolution at the Collège de France and the research centre CEREGE, "if similar solar storms happened today, they could be catastrophic for society, as we are so reliant upon technology."

"They could do enormous damage to our electricity grids, potentially causing nationwide blackouts lasting months, permanently putting satellites out of action with the huge bursts of energetic particles destroying their solar panels and stopping us communicating with them, and pose severe radiation risks to astronauts and aviation. In the worst-case scenario, the impact could cost us billions, or even trillions, of dollars in lost GDP," he said.

"This is the big question: will our communications, electricity grids and satellites mostly be able to withstand their impacts and just suffer temporary effects before quickly coming back online? Or will they catastrophically fail?" added Heaton.

(With inputs from agencies)

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