Shifts in solar activity could make the sun a greater threat to electronic devices by midcentury, according to research coming out of the British University of Reading's Meteorology department. In addition to affecting Earth's natural protection from solar flares, the changes in the sun's activity mean England will likely no longer experience the Northern Lights, one of the most remarkable phenomena in the world.
Solar minimums, periods of lesser solar activity, are normal, typically occurring once every eleven years. Solar activity is generally measured in sunspots, which decrease during the minimum and rise during the solar maximum.
Meteorologist Mathew Owens and his co-authors, publishing in Scientific Reports, predict a coming "grand minima," a far rarer event, the likes of which were last seen from 1645 to 1715. Known as the Maunder Minimum, this period saw years in which no sun spots were recorded at all. For comparison, in a solar max year like 1989, 157 sunspots were observed.
"As the sun becomes less active, sunspots and coronal ejections will become less frequent," says Owens. "However, if a mass ejection did hit the Earth, it could be even more damaging to the electronic devices on which society is now so dependent.
To read more, click here.