Analysis published Tuesday revealed that scientists were wrong about how active our closest star, the Sun, would be in 2024.
Solar storms were forecast to be worse throughout 2024 compared to other years as we’ve likely entered our 11-year solar maximum. It turns out that scientists vastly underestimated how mental our closest star would go, reaching a 23-year high that is continuing to dwarf expectations with four months left of the year, according to Live Science.
When the cycle began in 2020, Space Weather Prediction Scientists forecast a slightly weaker solar cycle compared to historical activity. The last major peak was 2014 and was the weakest for roughly 90 years. But the aforementioned scientists got it really, really wrong.
Weather Radar Systems Keep Glitching And It Could Be A Huge Problem | @DailyCaller https://t.co/vbaxxmq6mR
— KAY SMYTHE (@KaySmythe) April 15, 2024
The most recent sunspot count is twice as high as initially forecast. In August alone, there were an average of 215.5 sunspots per day. The last time numbers reached this high was September 2001, when the average was 238.2. On Aug. 8, 337 sunspots were spotted on the sun, the highest count in a 24 hour period since March 2001.
The high frequency of sunspots suggests to scientists that we’ve entered our solar maximum. The semi-scary part is that we won’t know for sure until the numbers start to drop off. (RELATED: Scientists Discover Galactic Pattern Pointing At Terrifying Activity In Space)
Along with sunspots, we’ve battled years of geomagnetic storms that grow ever-steadily in strength. In May, the most powerful storm in 21 years hit Earth, spewing the Northern Lights throughout the skies. A few days later, the strongest solar flare since 2017 popped off.
WE BEEN KNEW THAT https://t.co/wGHbuSDsvO
Sun Ramps Up Activity, Threatening Power Grid, Flights … and there’s more, a Solar Storm Thread.
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— KAY SMYTHE (@KaySmythe) November 10, 2023
Day-to-day impacts from heightened solar activity aren’t really known to humans. But major solar events have the potential to send us back to the Dark Ages. One event in 1859, known as the Carrington Event, shut down ground-based infrastructure. (RELATED: Did Flight Systems Go Down Because Of Solar Storms? Well …)
A similar event today could send all of our satellites falling back down to Earth, along with other major threats to modern society. Tell me, could you survive if all the technology turned off right now?
