Awe and alarm as ‘extreme’ solar storm hits Earth
Al Jazeera
Weather experts warn of potential disruptions to power grids, communications as sun’s outburst continues in coming days.
The most powerful solar storm in more than 20 years has struck Earth’s atmosphere, triggering warnings over the potential disruption to power grids and satellite communications while also producing spectacular celestial light shows in some parts of the world.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which issued a rare solar storm warning, said the solar outburst reached Earth at about 16:00 GMT on Friday, hours sooner than anticipated.
The first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs), described as the expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun, was later upgraded by the NOAA to an “extreme” geomagnetic storm.
It was the first solar storm occurrence since the Halloween storms of October 2003, which caused blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa.
More solar expulsions are expected in the coming days, and possibly into next week, according to the NOAA.
Despite unpredictable, sometimes dangerous, skies, MEA and other airlines are still flying. Here’s how, and why.
Human rights group Viasna reports 1,275 political prisoners still jailed and face harsh conditions.
The Department of Justice said Google had ‘deprived rivals’ of opportunities to expand their search engine market share.
Matt Gaetz has faced allegations of sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl, drug use, and misappropriating campaign funds.
British luxury automaker’s advertising campaign features models of varying ages, genders and races – but no cars.
After Ukraine strikes Russian territory with US missiles, what’s next?
Al Jazeera looks back at the most devastating period in Laos’s history, when the US waged a years-long ‘Secret War’ in the Southeast Asian country.
These were the key developments on the 1,001st day of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump allies say they will ‘liberate individuals and businesses from illicit regulations never passed by Congress’.
