Solar Maximum in 2025: Is There Cause for Concern Regarding Solar Storms?
Published on July 20, 2022, and last updated on September 17, 2025
In the ever-evolving digital age, a lesser-known yet significant threat looms over our connected world: solar storms. These natural phenomena, originating from the sun, can have profound impacts on our planet's power grids, satellites, and internet infrastructure.
Solar storms primarily affect the northern latitudes, making regions such as Canada more susceptible. A notable example occurred in March 1989, when a solar storm in Quebec paralysed the entire power grid, leaving 6 million people without power for nine hours.
The charged particles of the solar wind, derived from the Earth's magnetic field, flow along the field lines to the Earth's poles during a solar storm. These particles cause light bands or arcs of different colours north or south of the polar circles, known as auroras. In fact, solar storms deform the Earth's magnetic field, amplifying these polar lights visible on the edges of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
As we approach the peak of the current 11-year solar cycle, expected in 2025, the potential for such events increases. The strongest solar storm measured on Earth to date is the Carrington Event in 1859, which caused failures in North American and European telegraph networks and polar lights were observed as far as Rome and Hawaii.
Recent studies, such as the one conducted by the University of California-Irvine in 2021, have highlighted the vulnerability of our internet communication structure to violent solar storms. To mitigate this risk, experts like Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi have proposed various strategies to enhance internet infrastructure resilience.
Jyothi suggests shorter and more resilient internet connections, such as those in Europe and Asia, to make the internet infrastructure more robust. She also advocates for the implementation of additional overhead cables, which are less vulnerable than long submarine cables requiring many repeaters. Furthermore, Jyothi proposes shifting the internet infrastructure to the south, such as Central and South America, to make it more robust against solar storms.
Moreover, Jyothi emphasises the importance of improving physical protections, decentralising network nodes, and developing protocols to quickly reroute traffic during solar disturbances. These measures aim to ensure that our connected world remains functional even in the face of powerful solar storms.
NASA has warned that an extremely powerful "Carrington"-calibre solar storm narrowly missed Earth in July 2012. If a particularly strong solar storm were to impact Earth, it could potentially disrupt power grids, satellites, and paralyse the internet long term.
Communication via unprotected satellites and undersea cable repeaters is especially vulnerable to solar storms. A very strong electromagnetic interference from a solar storm could completely paralyse the sensitive undersea cable repeater system.
As we continue to navigate the digital age, it is crucial to be aware of these threats and take proactive measures to protect our infrastructure. By heeding the advice of experts like Jyothi and implementing robust strategies, we can ensure that our connected world remains resilient in the face of solar storms.
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