A solar flare, visible at the right of the image, occurs when magnetic field lines split apart and reconnect. When the flare is accompanied by a coronal mass ejection, and the magnetic field of the particles in the flare is anti-aligned with the magnetic field of Earth, a geomagnetic storm can occur, with grave potential for a natural disaster. (NASA)

Ask Ethan: How Prepared Are We For The Next Giant Solar Flare?

Not nearly well enough. And we should all be concerned.

In 1859, the science of solar physics truly began with the largest eruption in recorded history: the Carrington event. Prior to this time, many people had observed the Sun: counting and monitoring sunspots, watching the Sun’s differential rotation rate, and making a potential link between sunspot activity, the Earth’s magnetic field, and observations of Earth’s aurora. But when astronomers Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson noticed an enormous “white light flare” on the Sun on September 1, 1859, we realized that the Sun and the Earth were connected as never before. Just 17 hours later, Earth experienced the largest geomagnetic storm ever recorded, and the worldwide reports of its effects are now legendary. Knowing that these events happen regularly, are we now prepared for the inevitable? That’s what Erich Rathkamp wants to know, asking:

“a CME the size of the 1859 Carrington Event would, if not prepared for, effectively level the power grid of the United States… Can we actually provide a full day’s worth of warning? Is a sufficient warning period actually significant enough to allow us to survive a Carrington class [event?] …if a Carrington class event were to be detected tomorrow, would we actually be able to…