It will take decades to repair the damage caused to our satellites and ground-based electronics by a very powerful solar flare, experts say. The last time our star provoked a really serious geomagnetic storm was just over 150 years ago; then it did not do much harm, but in the modern world it would be a disaster.
The most powerful solar flare in the history of observations occurred 159 years ago; to a part, at that time humanity did not have any satellites or ground radio electronics, which radiation could disable. In the English-language literature, this incident is called the "Carrington event", after the British surname of the scientist who described it, or "solar superstorm", in Russian-language sources it is simply called the geomagnetic storm of 1859.
During these two days, a huge coronal ejection of matter occurred, provoking a disturbance in the Earth's magnetosphere; the northern lights were observed where they usually do not happen, the telegraph refused - sparks flew from the equipment, and the operators were shocked; several fires began. Few machines, then powered by electricity, continued to work even after being disconnected from the circuit.
If a similar geomagnetic storm happened today, many more people would notice the consequences. The data on what was happening in March 1989, when another - albeit weaker - outburst of solar activity occurred, to some extent, makes it possible to judge the chaos that threatens the modern world with an outbreak comparable in power to the Carrington event. Six million people remain without electricity in Canada; the radio was not working.
These days, a massive coronal ejection will lead to the shutdown of satellites and satellite communications, the failure of systems that rely on satellite data; there will be no GPS, mobile communications, there will be big problems with the Internet. Astronauts on the ISS will be left without communication with the Earth, and those who, at the moment when charged particles hit the station, will find themselves in open space, and will end up under the threat of death from radiation.
According to experts, the loss of operating satellites alone will cost the world economy $ 30-70 billion, total losses could reach $ 2 trillion, and it will take years to recover the damage.