Geomagnetic Storm likely to hit earth: Check cause and effect

Chennai: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) posted a image on Twitter that mentioned a geomagnetic storms will hit the Earth on April 6 and April 7.

According to the NOAA the earth is predicted to be hit by a geomagnetic storm caused due to the Sun spits filaments of plasma from a canyon. The was predicted by the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The NOAA said that the geomagnetic storm heading towards the Earth will not cause any dangerous situation, as it is categorised as G1.

Geomagnetic storms are categorised into G1 to G5, with the latter being the strongest.

The event, that happened on March 4, appeared as Coronal Mass Ejection. A coronal mass ejection is a significant release of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the Sun's corona into the solar wind.

What is a geomagnetic storm?

A geomagnetic storm is also known as a magnetic storm. It is a temporary disturbance of the Earth's magnetosphere caused by a solar wind shock wave and/or cloud of magnetic field that interacts with the Earth's magnetic field.

Geomagnetic storm like G4 or G5 would cause an impact to the life on the Earth system which could damage anything that runs on electricity.

Interestingly, this is not the first time that the Earth is going to hit by a geomagnetic storm.

It may be noted that in February, SpeaceX CEO Elon Musk's Starlink internet constellation, that provided internet access coverage to 28 countries, was hit by a geomagnetic storm and damaged around 40 of its satellites.

G1 (Minor) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for 6-7 Apr. pic.twitter.com/ft9XyK4pa1

— NOAA Space Weather (@NWSSWPC) April 4, 2022