How to Prepare for a Solar Flare to Hit Earth (Because It Probably Will)
In the Tom Hanks film Finch, a powerful solar flare destroys the ozone layer, wiping out almost all life on Earth (and leading to the invention of pesky robots). While it’s true that a massive coronal ejection could hit Earth at any moment, the good news is that even the worst solar storm probably won’t be as bad as Finch (as in the movie). The bad news: While “creating annoying robots” isn’t a bad thing, a coronal mass ejection can still be pretty scary.
Short of destroying the Sun, there is nothing humans can do to prevent solar flares, but you can still know what to expect and prepare accordingly.
What is a solar flare?
According to NASA , coronal mass ejections (CMEs), or solar flares, are “giant explosions on the Sun that send energy, light, and high-speed particles into space.” If Earth gets in the path of one of these emissions, and the emission is powerful enough, things could get very crazy very quickly.
Charged particles from the Sun entering the Earth’s magnetic field will cause geomagnetic storms, lighting up the sky with brilliant northern lights that will be visible across the Earth. Beautiful, of course. But it is seriously disruptive to our energy grid.
How bad is it when a solar flare hits Earth?
Solar flares hit Earth all the time, and it’s usually no big deal. Sometimes they cause relatively minor problems, such as the one that occurred in August 2023 and disrupted radio and navigation signals across North America. You probably didn’t notice—everything quickly returned to normal—but a larger event could turn into a disaster.
In 1859, the largest geomagnetic storm ever recorded hit the Earth. The Carrington Event lit up the sky so brightly that people thought it was dawn. The “Northern Lights” were visible as far south as Cuba, and the nascent telegraph system failed, with telegraph operators reporting being shocked by their machines or being able to send messages even though their power supplies had been cut off.
Ultimately, this was not a disaster in 1859, but in these days, when everything depends on energy and data, a massive shutdown and loss of the Internet ( undersea data cables are especially vulnerable ) would throw the world into significant chaos.
The power grid is likely to fail as main transmission lines become overloaded with electrical currents, causing transformers to explode. GPS systems will be useless because the satellites will be short-circuited. Planes can collide with each other because they are essentially flying blind. The Internet could be down for months, and the estimated financial losses would likely run into trillions of dollars.
A devastating solar flare is likely to occur in your lifetime
The sun regularly ejects material, but it usually doesn’t end up on Earth, just by accident. However, our luck must eventually run out. Scientists estimate that the probability that a powerful destructive coronal mass ejection will hit the Earth every 10 years is about 12 percent . This is about the same probability as a powerful earthquake in California.
Good news about solar flares
While there is nothing we ordinary people can do to prevent solar flares, they do not directly harm people and the damage to our infrastructure can be mitigated. There are at least 27 separate federal programs aimed at preventing the worst-case scenario of a solar flare, and private power companies are developing and using technologies to counteract massive power surges. On the other hand, taking action to prevent a predictable worldwide catastrophe is not something we are particularly good at (see Pandemic).
How to prepare for a powerful solar storm?
On an individual level, preparing for a massive solar flare to hit our planet is entirely doable—we’re not talking about a zombie apocalypse or nuclear war. First, remember that the storm will not harm you, so the worst outcome will be that your strength and your ability to communicate with others will be fried for a while. Perhaps for a few days. Maybe for a month. (Also: Your 401(k) plan will likely collapse when the economy falters.)
How to protect your home electrical system from power surges due to solar flares
You can’t do anything about transformers exploding from magnetic storms, but you can protect your home electrical system. Make sure your home is protected from surges with a whole house surge protector and regular surge protectors. This is a good idea for both large-scale global magnetic disasters and everyday power surges.
Prepare a basic disaster survival kit.
Just like making sure your home is surge-proof, putting together a basic emergency kit is a good idea even if a solar flare never happens—loss of power can happen with earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and some drunk guy driving into a pole across the street so you need to be prepared. There is no way to know how long the power will be out due to a magnetic storm, so exactly how long you should prepare for is a personal decision. The government’s basic guidelines for survival kits seem like a good starting point.
However, you should not lose sight of having cash. If international communications systems go down, you likely won’t be able to use an ATM, and hard currency can be very useful, especially if the outage continues for a long time.
I’m sure many disaster warriors think the government’s list is woefully inadequate, but I’m an optimist. I don’t think a massive worldwide power outage would throw the world into chaos – I’m more of a proponent of short-term disruption. However, there is no real way to know this.
What to do on the eve of a solar flare
Unlike earthquakes and nuclear attacks, we’re more likely to receive warning of an approaching magnetic storm—the 1859 Carrington event was observed 19 hours before it hit Earth—so you should have at least half a day to prepare for what’s coming troubles. Even if you didn’t prepare ahead of time at all (lazy!), you can still fill containers with water, go to the grocery store for non-perishable items, and otherwise mentally prepare for a week or so without being able to play Apex: Legends.
It’s time to recharge all your batteries, check in with your family, and make sure everyone else is prepared (even if they’ll probably think you’re crazy). If the systems go down, you won’t be able to contact anyone, and you definitely don’t want to be traveling while this mess continues.
Last step: turn everything off and wait for the light in the sky.
While disaster movies may suggest chaos and a run to all stores as soon as an impending disaster is announced, judging by how unusual the threat is and the “whatever” attitude everyone had in the days leading up to the pandemic’s spread in the United States, I’d put my money on the masses not worrying until the night sky lights up like noon and TikTok goes dark.