In recent days, NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) have reported intense solar activity whose effects could significantly affect communications and electrical networks on Earth. On July 13, 2024, a powerful X-class solar flare from sunspot AR3738 caused radio blackouts in Australia, Southeast Asia, and Japan. This explosion released a large amount of electromagnetic radiation, causing significant disruption to high frequency (HF) communications and potentially affecting GPS navigation systems. A new solar flare, class X1.9, recorded on July 16, appears to have caused radio blackouts across much of the Atlantic Ocean and parts of Africa, Europe and parts of the Americas.
Radiation from these eruptions travels at the speed of light, ionizing the Earth’s upper atmosphere and creating a denser environment for radio waves, which lose energy through collisions with electrons, causing radio signals to be degraded or completely absorbed.
NOAA has warned that these eruptions have the potential to disrupt radio and satellite communications on Earth.when radiation could impact us, which is between Wednesday and Friday. Specifically, there is a 60% chance of multiple mid-level or M-class solar flares within the next 24 hours, and a 15% chance of an even more extreme X-class flare, which could trigger radio blackouts around the world.
A geomagnetic storm warning has been issued for Wednesday, July 24, and could last through Friday, July 26, as a result of coronal mass ejection activity on the far side of the sun that occurred on July 21, NOAA said..
