The solar Sword of Damocles
Should this solar avalanche strike Earth in the near future (because it will happen again), it will end modern life as we know it.
“The eastern sky appeared of a blood red colour. It seemed brightest exactly in the east, as though the full moon, or rather the Sun, were about to rise. It extended almost to the zenith. The whole island was illuminated. The sea reflected the phenomenon, and no one could look at it without thinking of the passage in the Bible which says, ‘the sea was turned to blood.’ The shells on the beach, reflecting light, resembled coals of fire.”
- Eyewitness account of the Carrington Event, 1859
For those who fear that the dystopian science-fiction worlds of Blade Runner and a Brave New World will be our reality soon, it is best for one to remind themselves that there is always a flicker of light amidst the deepest darkness.
Today’s march of technology, from the molecular to the inter-stellar level, is charging forward without mercy or recourse. It took human engineering thousands of years to stick man in the sky, and, in under a century later, Neil Armstrong took one giant leap for mankind on the surface on the moon.
The dawn of the 21st Century heralded technology’s power to enslave, as well as liberate. The War on Terror initiated an unprecedented level of unconstitutional surveillance on private, law-abiding American citizens, while the widespread adoption of social media fanned the flames of the Arab Spring. But, on the balance of right and wrong, technology is seemingly being used for nefarious purposes everywhere one flicks their computer cursor.
Deepfake AI, ChatGPT, OnlyFans, Tiktok, Facial Recognition CCTV software, 5G (if one does believe in ‘electro-magnetic sensitivity’) - the list is endless, and the nature of these inventions were knee-deep in the realm of fantasy even when the United States dropped two nukes upon Japan.
Fighting this Goliath of wires and computer servers will take more than the well-aimed throw of a rock to bring the whole system crashing down (and liberate humanity from its grasp, should that be the stated intention). Not through human means can this silver bullet be fired.
However, such a weapon does exist, but beyond man’s mortal grasp, nor can it be predicted when the day of deliverance will arrive. Our technological matrix can marvel even its creators, but it is not infallible. It needs electricity for its fuel, but this source of power also depends on Earth’s magnetic field, and one of our celestial neighbours can send it into complete disarray, whilst leaving our own flesh and blood unharmed.
The Sun, unsurprisingly, was the idol of many ancient religions. Its energy fired into our stratosphere allows for plants to generate photosynthesis, forming the base of the entire animal kingdom’s food chain. Its warmth allows for basic biological reactions to take place while of course preventing this floating rock from freezing over.
Yet it is a very dangerous beast. The Sun, by its very nature, spews out an enormous amount of radiation into the solar system. Some of that radiation hits Earth and is diverted to the poles, which causes the aurora borealis – one of this planet’s most breath-taking natural phenomena.
In the event of a coronal mass ejection (a much higher dose of ionising radiation slamming directly into Earth), the aurora would stretch its arms further south and north, but the atmosphere shields the living creatures on the ground below.
One such event did take place in 1859 (described in the extract above), and fried the global telegram system due to this overwhelming burst of solar energy. The Carrington Event is the most powerful solar storm which humanity has scribbled into the history books, but did not leave any lasting damage (except maybe to a few telegram offices).
But now the game is different. Should this solar avalanche strike Earth in the near future (because it will happen again), it will end modern life as we know it and send our interconnected, globalised economy into complete disarray. Our satellites, standing on the wrong side of the planetary safety zone, will receive such a strong dose of energy that they will be rendered inoperable – there goes your GPS and Wi-Fi.
Detecting when a coronal mass ejection will hit the Earth is a near impossible task, as radiation travels at the speed of light; we most likely won’t know what downed our technological infrastructure until it is already too late.
With every single transformer burnt to a crisp, and all of our other electronic devises unusable, the developed world will be sent into shock. Regardless of whether evil or good sits on the throne, they will lose their power in an instant, having wielded themselves so firmly to the gods of copper, circuitry, and servers.
To any supporters of Ted Kaczynski in the audience, this will be your lucky day, though they shouldn’t hold their breath. It may turn out that technology can address this problem as well (and become truly unstoppable).
Through taking specialised images of the Sun, NASA may soon be able to foresee a coronal mass ejection colliding into Earth with pinpoint accuracy. Their warning drum will order the world to switch off the power, until the storm has passed. Once the aurora dies down, the family board games unearthed for this special occasion can be stowed away and forgotten once more.
It turns out our sci-fi future, however benevolent or horrifying, is here to stay.