A solar flare hitting Earth and wiping out electricity grids and satellite communications might sound like something from a science fiction movie, but it’s happened before and scientists predict it could well happen again. A new study suggests that the likelihood is that the Earth will be hit by a serious solar flare within the next 100 years.
The study entitled Risks for Life on Habitable Planets from Superflares of Their Host Stars was published in The Astrophysical Journal on October 10. Within it, authors Manasvi Lingam and Abraham Loeb discuss the consequences of previous superflares on both Earth and other planets within our solar system.
They have reportedly explored some of the ramifications arising from superflares on the evolutionary history of Earth, other planets in the solar system, and exoplanets.
They propose that the most powerful superflares can serve as plausible drivers of extinction events, and that their periodicity corresponds to certain patterns in the terrestrial fossil diversity record. On the other hand, weaker superflares reportedly may play a positive role in enabling the origin of life through the formation of key organic compounds.
Superflares could also prove to be quite detrimental to the evolution of complex life on present-day Mars and exoplanets in the habitable zone of M- and K-dwarfs. Researchers conclude that the risk posed by superflares has not been sufficiently appreciated, and that humanity might potentially witness a superflare event in the next hundred years, leading to devastating economic and technological losses.
In light of the many uncertainties and assumptions associated with the analysis, they recommend that these results should be viewed with due caution.
