How the geomagnetic storm that hit Earth last week could unleash a wave of hurricanes
It has already led to radio interference and GPS interference.
Now a new study suggests that the solar storm that hit Earth last week could unleash a wave of hurricanes.
The team used a model that examined tropical cyclone activity over the past 5,500 years and found eleven periods when there were 40 percent more storms than normal.
They discovered that these periods had one thing in common: the sun was buzzing with activity.
The theory is that when the sun is more active, it sends more energy to Earth which warms the oceans and provides fuel for tropical storms.
Earth has been hit by bursts of power from the sun in recent days, and scientists have found that such increased solar activity could lead to more hurricanes. The solar flare at the bottom right exploded from the sun on May 14
The news comes at a time when America is already in the midst of a record-breaking hurricane season: at least twenty named storms are poised to hit the country.
When the sun is active, it launches powerful bursts of high-energy particles that shoot through space.
And as they hit Earth, the particles bring with them the sun’s energy, which warms our oceans and fuels tropical storms.
The theory is that when the sun is more active, it sends more energy to Earth which warms the oceans and provides fuel for tropical storms.
A solar or geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of the Earth’s magnetosphere – the region around the Earth that is governed by the planet’s magnetic field.
And last Friday’s storm is rated ‘G4’ (on a scale of one to five), making it a ‘severe’ storm.”
“Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on the Earth’s surface,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shared in a statement last Thursday, explaining how the storm “could potentially disrupt communications, electricity grid, navigation, radio and satellite activities.
Lead study author Yang Wang of Florida State University told DailyMail.com that she could not predict whether recent intense solar activity would lead to more tropical cyclones this year.
The solar activity, or total solar irradiance (TSI), used in the study was determined using carbon in tree rings.
When the sun’s activity decreases, a type of carbon called carbon-14 increases in the atmosphere – and these changes can be seen in the tree rings, which absorb carbon from the air.
The reason for this was that when the sun is more active, it sends more energy to Earth which warms the oceans and provides fuel for tropical storms.
The research comes as the sun hit our planet last week with a geomagnetic storm, causing radio interference, and a day after the star unleashed its most powerful outburst in nearly two decades, causing disruptions over the US on May 14 (pictured) .
Researchers collected sediment cores near Mullet Pond and Eastern Lake, located in the northeastern Gulf region, to identify storms over thousands of years
Lead study author Yang Wang from Florida State University told DailyMail.com: ‘The role of solar activity in modulating tropical cyclone activity is complex.
‘Increased solar radiation (the power of solar radiation per unit area that hits it) contributes to the warming of the oceans.
“As the oceans warm, they have more energy available that can be converted into tropical cyclone winds, potentially creating more favorable conditions for stronger storms to develop.”
Solar activity (red) or total solar irradiance (TSI) was determined using carbon in tree rings.
The team reconstructed a 5,500-year storm record for the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and compared the simulation to carbon captured by tree rings to determine solar events over the years.
Solar activity, or total solar irradiance (TSI), was determined using carbon in tree rings.
When the sun’s activity decreases, a type of carbon called carbon-14 increases in the atmosphere – and these changes can be seen in the tree rings, which absorb carbon from the air.
Professor Wang and her team found that there were 19 hurricanes in the Gulf region from 14,10 to 820 years ago and 16 events from 60 years ago to 2016 – when the team began studying the Gulf region.
“This statistically robust association of increased tropical cyclone activity with higher solar radiation supports the concept that solar activity can be an important driver of climate variability and tropical cyclone activity through its influence on atmospheric circulation, ocean currents, and sea surface temperatures,” researchers wrote in the study.
However, Professor Wang also noted that the sun’s energy can also warm the upper atmosphere, reducing the temperature difference between the surface and the upper atmosphere.
“This not only weakens the vertical motion in a developing tropical cyclone, but also causes shifts in the atmospheric circulation,” she continued.
‘Our results suggest that a combination of high solar radiation and other factors, including enhanced El Niño/Southern Oscillation, warmer sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico and positive phases of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, create favorable conditions for tropical cyclone formation.