00:00In September 1859, scientists observed a great solar eruption for the first time.
00:08The sun projected in space enormous amounts of radiation, energy and plasmatic matter.
00:14This disaster was considerable and devastating.
00:18But it occurred at a distance of 150 million kilometers.
00:22So it probably did not pose a major problem.
00:25Do you think? We'll see.
00:27A few hours after the detection of the eruption,
00:30telegraph lines ceased to operate throughout Europe and North America.
00:34Some of them produced sparks and caused fires.
00:38People then realized that the sun was not only a source of light and heat,
00:43but that it also represented a danger.
00:45Scientists have since given the name of the Carrington event.
00:49The good news is that this event occurred in the middle of the 19th century
00:53and that it did not cause serious problems for the planet.
00:56The bad news is that scientists predict that in 2025,
01:00the Earth will experience even more powerful solar storms caused by a coronal mass ejection.
01:05It is a giant cloud of plasma or charged gas.
01:09In one go, the sun can project billions of tons of this material into space,
01:13which then flies at very high speeds.
01:16Some of this material can reach our planet in 15 hours, the rest in a few days.
01:21On its way, the ejection captures and accelerates all the charged particles encountered,
01:26which increases its intensity and power.
01:29Finally, this irresistible energy concentrate crashes on our planet.
01:33It warms the upper layers of the atmosphere,
01:36increases its thickness and disrupts the work of satellites.
01:39They slow down at altitude losses.
01:42Our communications with satellites become unstable,
01:45GPSs are out of order, data is poorly transmitted.
01:49In addition, the gas charged by the sun penetrates our electrical networks,
01:53our transformers and our stations.
01:56This leads to massive breakdowns that compromise the operation of the entire technological chain.
02:01A powerful solar attack on several power plants
02:04can trigger a total power outage in a large city.
02:08The Internet, telephones, social services, networks, nothing works anymore.
02:13We risk no longer being in contact with each other.
02:17Many large companies go bankrupt and the planet is at risk of serious economic crises.
02:22These are huge problems, but they are not the most serious yet.
02:26Power plants supply heating and water pumping stations.
02:30Solar storms could prevent water from reaching our homes.
02:34Without liquid money, it is impossible to do shopping in stores.
02:38Of course, all this can be restored,
02:41but not before having lived a few times at the age of iron.
02:44But the worst is that a prolonged solar storm can suspend food production.
02:49For example, this year, a geomagnetic storm put GPS satellites out of service,
02:54which are connected to modern tractors, so that farmers could not work.
02:59What would happen if such storms occurred every day for a year?
03:04We would probably start to miss many items in supermarkets.
03:08Maritime navigation also depends on satellites.
03:11Thanks to them, ships calculate the latitude and longitude of their position.
03:15If the satellites are damaged, ships can get lost in the ocean.
03:19Even whales get lost during magnetic storms.
03:22Many birds orient themselves using the magnetic field during their long flights to the south.
03:27Thus, humans, like animals, can be confronted with serious problems.
03:32Solar storms heat up the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere and make the air thicker.
03:38The movement of satellites slows down because of this air resistance.
03:41They lose altitude.
03:43One of these satellites is Hubble.
03:45Yes, the telescope that provides us with all these incredible images of space.
03:48Scientists say that it will one day fail because of solar attacks.
03:53You have probably heard the information that solar activity has recently caused electromagnetic storms on Earth.
04:00But fortunately, it has not affected our lives in any way.
04:04The only problem was the headaches, hypertension and mood swings during these storms.
04:10It seems banal, but scientists cannot agree on this subject.
04:15No one knows exactly how and why magnetic storms affect our health.
04:20Yes, during storms, the atmosphere of the planet becomes less dense,
04:24and this may affect our blood pressure, just like when the weather changes.
04:29People suffering from cardiovascular problems must therefore be very careful.
04:33But the effect on our nervous system is, luckily, rather insignificant.
04:37It is possible that people who learn about the arrival of a magnetic storm,
04:41and who feel bad, are actually victims of a placebo effect.
04:45But there is also good news.
04:47All these charged solar particles interact with the atoms and molecules of the Earth's atmosphere.
04:53This interaction is at the origin of the magnificent auroras of Boreal.
04:57It is good to spend a little time away from these gadgets and to look at the sky from time to time.
05:02One of the biggest storms occurred on March 13, 1989.
05:07On March 10, the sun ejected a gigantic volume of coronal plasma.
05:12The amount of this material was equivalent to 36 times the size of the Earth.
05:16The solar cloud was flying towards us at 1,600,000 km per hour.
05:21A few days later, it crashed on the magnetic field of our planet.
05:25This collision caused a geomagnetic storm.
05:29People were able to observe some of the brightest and most beautiful auroras in history.
05:35The show took place on a large part of the planet.
05:38But after that, problems began to appear.
05:42The solar storm was so powerful that it crossed the atmosphere and reached the surface of the Earth.
05:47It first disrupted the operation of satellites, then damaged electrical networks.
05:52For example, it destroyed a transformer in a nuclear power plant in New Jersey.
05:56In Canada, power companies ceased to operate due to systems overload.
06:02As a result, about 6 million people in the northeast of this country were deprived of electricity for 9 hours.
06:09This was the biggest power outage caused by a geomagnetic storm.
06:13Of course, there were more powerful storms in the middle of the 19th century and early 20th century.
06:19But the planet did not depend so much on electrical networks at the time.
06:23Even more violent storms could occur in 2025.
06:27The question is whether we will be ready to face them.
06:31An in-depth study of solar activity can help us prepare.
06:35If we know in advance that a storm is imminent,
06:37scientists can theoretically turn off some systems and then turn them back on.
06:42If the activity of the sun increases every year, we will have to find new ways to protect ourselves.
06:48Who knows?
06:49Maybe scientists will cover all our devices and power stations with a special layer of protective material.
06:56Anyway, we have to do everything to not damage the Earth's magnetic field.
07:01Because if this shield disappears, the surface of our planet will look like Mars.
07:06But what causes these solar storms and why do they affect us so much?
07:10Imagine a well-dressed man going to bed.
07:13In the morning, his hair is messy.
07:15The magnetic fields of the sun look like his messy hair.
07:19When the sun rotates, its fields burst, get tangled, stretch and tear.
07:25And it releases huge amounts of energy into space.
07:28This is not a problem for the sun.
07:30Because all this is restored during a process called magnetic reconnection.
07:35Such emissions can cause problems on the planet of our system.
07:39When magnetic reconnection occurs, several phenomena can follow.
07:44One of them, which you have already heard about, is a coronal mass ejection.
07:49But that's not all the terrible things the sun does.
07:52There are also eruptions.
07:54Imagine an explosion of solar radiation containing electromagnetic waves,
07:58X-rays, radiation and visible and ultraviolet light.
08:03During eruptions, the sun releases a huge amount of this destructive energy.
08:08It spreads in space at the speed of light.
08:11It takes 8 minutes for this explosive wave to reach our planet.
08:15Fortunately, these eruptions cause us very little damage,
08:19because the magnetic field and the atmosphere of the Earth protect us.
08:22Strong eruptions can disrupt radio waves in the high atmosphere
08:26and affect the operation of satellites.
08:28But it does not matter.
08:30Another solar phenomenon, the storm of radiation.
08:33These are electrons and accelerated protons,
08:36which move at a speed slightly lower than that of light.
08:40Thanks to the magnetic field of the Earth,
08:42the storms of radiation do not harm our planet too much.
08:45However, they represent a danger for astronauts and satellites.
08:49These particles can penetrate human tissues and cause serious health problems.
08:54But only if you are in space or if you fly a plane in the high atmosphere.
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