Solar storm risks underestimated study

A study published in Nature by Nithin Sivadas of United States — NASA's United States — Goddard Space Flight Center and Maria Walach of Lancaster University challenges the long-held belief that Earth's response to solar storms has an upper limit. The researchers argue that the apparent saturation of geomagnetic storms is an illusion caused by measurement uncertainties and regression to the mean in solar wind measurements taken at Lagrange point L1. Using over a million measurements from Earth-orbiting United States — NASA spacecraft, they found a direct relationship between solar wind strength and upper atmosphere currents, suggesting no natural cap. This implies that extreme space weather events could have far worse effects on technology, including satellite disruptions, power outages, and GPS failures, than previously modeled. The authors stress that while extreme events are rare, risk estimates for once-in-a-thousand-year storms may be too conservative.