Could solar flares realistically disable all electronics on earth?

[u/ejoch]

So I’ve read about solar flares and how they could be especially damaging to today’s world, since everyday services depend on the technology we use and it has the potential to disrupt all kinds of electronics. How can a solar flare disrupt electronic appliances? Is it potentially dangerous to humans (eg. cancer)? And could one potentially wipe out all electronics on earth? And if so, what kind of damage would it cause (would all electronics need to be scrapped or would they be salvageable?) Thanks in advance

[u/sintaur]

A solar flare, no. Maybe you're thinking of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which can be troublesome.

But even with CMEs, NASA says chill out:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/flare-impacts.html

But it is a problem the same way hurricanes are a problem. One can protect oneself with advance information and proper precautions. During a hurricane watch, a homeowner can stay put … or he can seal up the house, turn off the electronics and get out of the way. Similarly, scientists at NASA and NOAA give warnings to electric companies, spacecraft operators and airline pilots before a CME comes to Earth so that these groups can take proper precautions

If you're not too prone to anxiety, read about the Carrington Event:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859

The Earth's Aurora extended as far south as Columbia. It was so bright people got up in the middle of the night thinking it was morning. Some telegraph operators were able to send/receive messages with their batteries unhooked. Others had to fight fires caused by sparks leaping from their equipment.

Oh btw a lot of people think NASA is downplaying the CME fears, for example.

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[u/zebediah49 → u/sintaur]

i have to say, I'm with NASA on this one. The example case seems to assume that a CME event magically breaks everything... it doesn't. Not even close.

Sure, it'd be inconvenient and messy for the duration, but pretty much everything that's important is also basically immune.

All it does is induce currents in transmission lines (and pipelines, or other long metal objects). There is a very real possibility that the transmission lines in question would thus be unable to function, because circuit breakers would trip. In fact, I would expect operators to carefully monitor the state of their systems, and preemptively load shed as necessary. So... we turn off the electrical grid for a couple days.

That doesn't mean that all communications are down and the world turns to anarchy though. Most communication lines are fiber. Those are fine. Datacenters, hospitals, banks, and some stores all have backup generator systems. They drop off the grid, but continue functioning. The US NFPA spec for critical infrastructure requires 96 hours of backup fuel; I expect most critical facilities have significantly more than that.

The only real threat is from operators not disconnecting vulnerable transformers, and them actually getting damaged.

E: Satellites would also likely have a bad time. I'll admit that those are pretty important, but again -- critical infrastructure has contingency plans for lack of satellite.

[u/410th]

Read up on the Carrington Event of 1859. An event like this, were it to occur today, would likely cause widespread electric grid damage and result in electrical outages. These outages could be lengthy in duration due to the availability of replacement components. Satellites including communication and GPS would be affected. Astronauts and possibly humans at higher altitudes would be most affected by intense solar radiation and the duration of a solar storm would also make things worse.

No, it would not damage every terrestrial electronic device. You may be thinking of and EMP.

[u/Weeeelums → u/410th]

How likely is an event such as that to happen again?

[u/[deleted] → u/410th]

From the wikipedia page on the Carrington Event:

I was gold-digging at Rokewood, about four miles from Rokewood township (Victoria). Myself and two mates looking out of the tent saw a great reflection in the southern heavens at about 7 o'clock p.m., and in about half an hour, a scene of almost unspeakable beauty presented itself, lights of every imaginable color were issuing from the southern heavens, one color fading away only to give place to another if possible more beautiful than the last, the streams mounting to the zenith, but always becoming a rich purple when reaching there, and always curling round, leaving a clear strip of sky, which may be described as four fingers held at arm's length. The northern side from the zenith was also illuminated with beautiful colors, always curling round at the zenith, but were considered to be merely a reproduction of the southern display, as all colors south and north always corresponded. It was a sight never to be forgotten, and was considered at the time to be the greatest aurora recorded... The rationalist and pantheist saw nature in her most exquisite robes, recognising, the divine immanence, immutable law, cause, and effect. The superstitious and the fanatical had dire forebodings, and thought it a foreshadowing of Armageddon and final dissolution

Average people were better writers back then.

[u/Dfurrles]

Geomagnetic storms accompanied usually by solar flares and other perturbations cause a strengthening and weakening effect in certain areas of the earths magnetic field. According to maxwell and faraday, a changing magnetic field always produces an electric current, and vice versa. This current will always take the path of least resistance. In areas with non electrically conductive terrain (parts of Canada for example), that path could be directly through the power grid. This causes spikes in the voltage carried through the lines, and can cause critical damage to transformers. The power grid itself is susceptible to solar events, however most electronics would survive due to fuses and circuit breakers. Solar flares themselves are purely light emissions. While they are a good indication of an incoming geomagnetic storm, they in themselves, won’t do much damage, aside from to satellites in orbit. The light rays emitted can cause gps errors and ionospheric scintillation which can affect HF radio communications to polar regions. Most of the high energy light which is dangerous to humans on a cellular level, will ionize nitrogen and oxygen atoms high in the atmosphere which will prevent them from ever reaching the earths surface.

While it is completely possible for a geomagnetic storm to “wipe out” a power grid, it is highly unlikely for them to damage all electronics.

[u/Cyphik]

Okay, in order to understand the possible consequences of a solar flare, you need to understand the mechanics of them. In science, they are referred to as Coronal Mass Ejections, or CMEs for short. They are superheated plasma particles that become charged electrically, and the particle cloud itself has a North and South pole as they travel through space. If you have ever played with magnets, you know that opposites attract, and like poles repel eachother. If the CME has a charge oriented opposite of the magnetic poles of the Earth, it will dive down into the polar magnetosphere and electrically charge the entire planet. Our electronics would see their neutral (ground) suddenly become very far from neutral, to the point that many small circuits would become overloaded, then melt and even combust in some cases. This has happened before, in the mid 1800's, it was known as the Carrington Event. Back then the most advanced electronics were telegraph lines, which are fairly robust compared to most modern devices, just by the fact that their circuits were much more massive than most things today. The telegraph lines were operating without needing to be turned on... The wires were inducting current that actually powered signal transmissions, simply by the flow of electricity from the Earth's magnetic field. People by the Equator witnessed the Aurora Borealis. Will'O The Wisps Danced by the multitude accross harbors and through city streets. A great multitude of forest fires and building fires were sparked by the hypercharged static electricity that overloaded the air itself even inside of buildings.

[u/greatatdrinking]

Kinda. The biggest solar flare recorded happened in this century, I think. Yep, this century Luckily, it didn't hit us.

We've got that very helpful magnetic field that deflects solar ejections and radiation. Should a big solar flare occur, communications would probably be disabled. But if you want to play on your nintendo switch or start your car, you'd probably be fine. Cell phone service, internet, and the general efficacy of our satellites? Not so assured.

[u/sjwillis1]

Late to the party, but this radiolab episode describes something similar and how we've added redundancy to help reduce the risks. It's well worth your time.

https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/bit-flip

[u/wishiwascooltoo]

Telegram lines were set on fire from the Carrington Event. Things have only become more reliant on electronics since then. Solar radiation fries delicate electronics so appliances not properly shielded could be affected. Solar radiation of sufficient power would cause electrical storms in the atmosphere posing huge risk to people on the ground.