Radio communications in China were disrupted on Monday, February 14, when the sun let loose its most powerful eruption in more than four years, and experts say it could have been a lot worse.
The sun’s activity cycle suggests there will be more storms coming our way over the next few years.
Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation that send waves of photons streaming toward Earth. The scale measuring their strength has three general categories – Class C, Class M and Class X – with Class X flares being the most powerful.
WKRG.com reports that the one on Monday was Class X2.2. Bigger flares can interfere with satellites, causing disruptions in GPS and high-frequency radio communications that can last from a few minutes to a few hours.
They probably will not happen but if they do they could disrupt communications not just in China but worldwide.