Solar storms, Earth’s magnetic field and plate tectonics

Could the Sun be responsible for the next crisis on Earth? A severe solar storm has the potential to cause failures of satellites, undersea fiber-optic communication cables, and power grids. Scientists have identified three intense solar storms in the last 150 years that caused significant disruptions: in 1859, 1872, and 1921, when telegraphs broke down worldwide. According to the National Academy of Sciences, a severe solar storm could cost up to $2 trillion for the first year after the event.

According to research from the University of Rochester, a significant weakening of the Earth’s magnetic field over 500 million years ago coincided with a sharp increase in oxygen levels and biodiversity. At that time, the Earth’s magnetic field was 30 times weaker than it is today. Scientists believe that stronger solar radiation hitting the Earth’s atmosphere precipitated hydrogen and other light atoms, leaving excess oxygen. This excess oxygen, in turn, fueled the development of multicellular organisms.

Plate tectonics, which determines the shape of Earth’s continents, may have resulted from the collision of the Earth with the planet Thea approximately 4.5 billion years ago. As a result, huge “spots” of matter were formed near the Earth’s core, shaping how tectonic plates moved. Plate tectonics is the geological process that drives earthquakes and volcanoes and allows life to exist on Earth.