- 2 hours ago
What’s forming over the United States right now doesn’t follow the rules of a normal storm. It’s growing in ways meteorologists rarely see, showing patterns that don’t match anything typical for this time of year. And the most unsettling part is that experts are still trying to understand what it might become.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Imagine a giant, immensely powerful storm rotating over your head.
00:05You'd be terrified if you could see it.
00:07But this storm is invisible to the unaided eye.
00:10It isn't your regular hurricane.
00:13This intense phenomenon happens in space.
00:16Space hurricanes are giant, swirling storms that form not in our oceans, but up in the ionosphere.
00:23It's part of Earth's upper atmosphere charged with energy from the sun.
00:27Space storms look a lot like traditional hurricanes, except they're made up of plasma, supercharged gases, and instead of raining
00:35water, they rain electrons.
00:37These massive, rotating hurricanes appear over Earth's polar regions.
00:42Now, think of a space hurricane as a giant funnel or whirlpool of energy spiraling over the polar regions.
00:49It's only visible from high altitudes or by satellites.
00:53Space hurricanes also produce cyclone-like auroras.
00:57Such colorful light shows look similar to good old auroras.
01:01But there's a big twist.
01:03Space auroras usually spin near the North Pole for several hours, raining charged particles into the upper atmosphere.
01:11Hurricanes on Earth are born from warm ocean water and low-pressure areas.
01:15They're fueled by Earth's rotation and heat energy from the ocean.
01:19Space hurricanes, on the other hand, are created by a different process altogether.
01:24They're influenced by magnetic fields instead of Earth's water.
01:28When the solar wind, a steady flow of charged particles coming from the sun, comes into contact with Earth's magnetic
01:36field in just the right way,
01:38it creates a kind of swirling vortex of energy, high up in the ionosphere.
01:43It starts spinning, much like how a regular hurricane spins in the atmosphere.
01:48Now, let's go all the way back to 2014.
01:51That was the first time researchers spotted a massive space storm over the Arctic using satellite data.
01:58That hurricane was huge, but at that time, they didn't know exactly what it was.
02:03What they did know was that its base stretched over 600 miles in diameter,
02:07and it had multiple spiral arms that looked just like the arms of a traditional hurricane.
02:13The storm also had a calm eye in the center.
02:17There, the plasma was still, compared to the fast-rotating outer regions.
02:21Some parts of this storm spun at speeds up to 4,700 miles per hour.
02:26It's an incredible speed compared to Earth's hurricanes.
02:29The team observed the phenomenon for eight hours.
02:32After that, it gradually broke down.
02:35Scientists managed to identify this storm as a space hurricane only in 2021,
02:41using observations that had been made several years before.
02:46Space hurricanes have several distinct features.
02:49First, it's cyclone-shaped, massive, bright auroras that can last for hours.
02:54Then, there's the eye of the storm, a calm, stable center of the hurricane.
02:59A space hurricane also creates a circular magnetic field with strong disturbances around it.
03:05Plus, scientists mention electron rains in the ionosphere.
03:09These rains are what causes those bright, colorful auroras right below the storm.
03:15But how do space hurricanes form?
03:18To understand this process, we need to first talk about regular auroras, like the northern lights.
03:24The sun emits a stream of charged particles, also known as the solar wind, non-stop.
03:30And sometimes, this wind brings massive bursts of energy towards Earth.
03:35Luckily, Earth has a magnetic field that acts like a shield, protecting us from most of this high-energy solar
03:41radiation.
03:42But when solar winds are too strong, they can get into the upper atmosphere, especially near the poles.
03:48When these particles from the sun hit Earth's magnetic field, they release energy that lights up the sky in the
03:56form of auroras.
03:57Now, in a typical aurora, electrons from the solar wind excite nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the atmosphere,
04:04which then emit light, leading to colorful shows in the sky.
04:08Space hurricanes are similar, but they happen at higher latitudes, above the region where auroras usually appear.
04:15They create a swirling, cyclone-like effect that looks quite different.
04:20Scientists are still studying the exact conditions necessary for a space hurricane to occur.
04:25But they already know that, surprisingly, such storms happen during very calm space weather.
04:31This is the opposite of traditional geomagnetic storms, which need intense solar activity.
04:37Space hurricanes need just the right balance of low solar wind and northward-pointing magnetic fields.
04:44And even though these storms are uncommon, they aren't impossible.
04:48Hence, those unique swirling storms above the poles.
04:52When scientists observe the space hurricane over the North Pole,
04:55they notice some shocking similarities to hurricanes on Earth.
04:59Just like the typical hurricane, a space hurricane has a central area where the plasma is calm.
05:05Even more curiously, the plasma in space hurricanes spins in a counterclockwise direction,
05:12which is like hurricanes raging in the northern hemisphere.
05:15The space hurricane also has multiple spiral arms,
05:19just like the ones you can see in satellite images of Earth hurricanes.
05:23Plus, the space hurricane doesn't need the strong solar winds
05:26that typically create disturbances in our atmosphere.
05:30No, it forms in periods of calm,
05:33just like how an Earth hurricane can only form if the winds in the atmosphere aren't too disruptive.
05:39Now, space hurricanes may be high above us,
05:42but they can still affect our daily lives,
05:45especially in areas related to satellite communications and space navigation.
05:49Those electron rains caused by the storm interfere with radio signals that travel through the upper atmosphere.
05:56It can disrupt GPS systems, radio communications, and radar systems.
06:02What's even worse, this interference can impact the orbits of space debris or space junk,
06:07which is already a problem for spacecraft and satellites in low Earth orbit.
06:12The storm's electron rain slightly heats up the atmosphere,
06:16which leads to extra drag on satellites and can potentially change their orbits.
06:22At the same time, the effects space hurricanes have on Earth aren't as direct and disastrous as those of hurricanes
06:29down here.
06:30They really don't pose any serious health risks to astronauts or damaged satellites.
06:35But researchers say that studying such storms can help improve predictions for satellite operations,
06:41especially for flights that cross polar regions.
06:45Now, interestingly, scientists didn't set out to find space hurricanes when they spotted one.
06:50The discovery was a total accident.
06:53It happened when Larry Lyons, a space physicist from UCLA,
06:57and his team were looking through satellite data for another study.
07:01In this study, they noticed unusually strong plasma flows in the polar cap,
07:06the region at Earth's poles where auroras usually don't appear.
07:10When they looked more closely, they saw that this plasma wasn't just flowing.
07:15It was swirling, creating a circular pattern with a bright auroral spot in the middle.
07:20The researchers were intrigued.
07:22They analyzed over 300 different space hurricane events that happened over a span of 11 years.
07:28These storms appeared most often in the afternoon during summer months.
07:33It made the scientists believe there might be certain times and conditions that could encourage their formation.
07:40Luckily, with new research tools and techniques,
07:43scientists have been able to identify space hurricanes with greater precision.
07:48And recently, they've spotted parallel storms happening near the South Pole as well.
07:53The most exciting thing about this research is that it might help us better understand Earth's space neighborhood
08:00and the way solar energy affects it.
08:03Scientists like Lyons believe that space hurricanes may not actually be a new phenomenon.
08:08They may have been occurring for a long time, but no one noticed them.
08:12Space plasma physicists point out that space hurricanes resemble a phenomenon people observed earlier.
08:19It's called high-latitude, dayside auroras.
08:22At the same time, space hurricanes are much brighter, and they have stronger circular flows,
08:28which give them those hurricane-like arms.
08:31Understanding space hurricanes could eventually help scientists predict them.
08:35It would be useful for planning space missions and making satellites more reliable.
08:40Plus, by looking at these storms, researchers hope to create a more complete picture
08:45of how auroras behave at higher latitudes.
08:48And even though space hurricanes may seem purely like scientific curiosity,
08:54they can give us important clues about how Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere interact with the solar wind.
09:00And who knows?
09:02This understanding might even help us spot similar storms on other planets with magnetic fields.
09:07It could offer clues about magnetic storms beyond Earth.
09:13Hurricanes can be a lot scarier than we often realize, especially since they can actually trigger earthquakes.
09:19This surprising and frightening phenomenon, known as storm quakes,
09:24was discovered completely by accident not too long ago.
09:28It started with scientists trying to find out more about low-frequency earthquakes.
09:32We're talking about those earthquakes that are so weak that we can't actually feel the tremor.
09:37See, beneath our feet, the Earth is constantly vibrating in subtle, unceasing ways
09:42that we can't hear or see without the right equipment.
09:45This geologic hum, so to speak, is driven by the movement of oceans,
09:49which covers about 70% of our planet's surface.
09:54Scientists have found that this hum may actually provide useful records of environmental happenings.
09:59To figure out where it's coming from, experts use equipment known as seismometers.
10:04You can think of these devices as little ears pressed to the ground.
10:08They can pick up all sorts of vibrations, like fans jumping up and down at their idols' concert,
10:14airplanes flying by, or even super-distant earthquakes shaking the ground.
10:19Very low-frequency earthquakes are hard to track over long distances,
10:23because the signals they produce can look different on different measuring devices.
10:27To solve this problem, experts came up with a way to track these signals
10:31by combining readings from smaller areas, kind of like putting together a puzzle.
10:37But while doing this, they stumbled upon a strange set of events
10:41that looked a bit like the earthquakes they were studying, but were not exactly the same.
10:47The first weird thing they noticed was that this specific phenomenon was seasonal.
10:52It never happened between May and August, for example.
10:55That is completely different from earthquakes, which can pretty much happen any time of the year.
11:02The second strange thing is that earthquakes usually occur more in the western part of the United States,
11:08where the ground moves along cracks in the surface.
11:10But these new strange vibrations spread not just along the west coast of North America,
11:16but also over to the east side.
11:18So what could be triggering this new phenomenon?
11:22What they surprisingly discovered is that many of these tremors coincided with the same time
11:28that massive storms hit North America.
11:30So we are essentially talking about a chain reaction.
11:34What happens is that during a specific season, hurricanes or heavy storms can transfer energy into the oceans,
11:41creating very strong waves.
11:43These waves then interact with the solid Earth, producing intense seismic activity.
11:48These bursts of energy that are born from massive storms can radiate thousands of miles across continents,
11:54leading to what we now call storm quakes.
11:59It is believed that this phenomenon can trigger earthquakes at a magnitude of up to 3.5 on the Richter
12:05scale.
12:05This means it can be felt by many people, but normally doesn't cause any damage.
12:11But that doesn't mean we can all be relaxed now,
12:15as ocean waters can indeed increase the intensity of hurricanes.
12:18Just like what happened with the frightening Hurricane Melton,
12:21which recently left a path of destruction across Florida.
12:25The blue-purplish zone you're looking at is Hurricane Melton, seen from a satellite perspective.
12:30On October 9th, this hurricane sustained winds of 155 miles per hour
12:36and lashed the region with heavy rainfall, damaging winds, and life-threatening storm surges.
12:42Estimates show that the losses could be up to $34 billion,
12:45which could make it one of the costliest storms in the United States' history.
12:51What happened with Hurricane Melton was pretty tricky.
12:54It all started with some record hot water in the Gulf of Mexico.
12:57That warm water acted like a power-up, giving this hurricane the energy it needed to grow.
13:04And then, there was also this process called eyewall replacement that helped it get bigger too.
13:09We'll get to that in a moment.
13:11So, as Hurricane Melton approached the coast, something unusual happened.
13:15It crossed paths with a fast-moving air current called the jet stream,
13:19which flows high up in the atmosphere.
13:22Normally, the winds in the northern and northwest parts of a hurricane
13:25are not as strong as those in other areas.
13:28But because of this interaction with the jet stream,
13:31the winds in these parts of the storm became much stronger than expected.
13:36At nearly every turn, Hurricane Melton surprised everyone
13:40and intensified faster than we have seen in ages.
13:43It threatened to slam both Florida's west and east coasts with a dangerous surge of water,
13:49putting the bustling area of Tampa Bay,
13:51which is home to over 3 million people at serious risk.
13:55So, how did Melton become such a major problem?
13:59Well, the problem started in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
14:02Usually, hurricanes follow a fairly predictable path,
14:06spinning off of Africa's coast,
14:08sailing across the Atlantic,
14:09and gaining strength in the warm Caribbean waters.
14:12But Melton had a twist in its origin story.
14:14It began as the remnants of a tropical depression
14:17that crossed over the Yucatan Peninsula
14:19and met a stalled front in the Gulf.
14:23Once Melton got going, it didn't hold back.
14:26But when it hit those record high ocean temperatures,
14:29it was like giving it an energy drink.
14:31The warm water and humid air
14:33were the perfect ingredients for a hurricane on the rise.
14:36Quickly, Melton's wind speeds increased by 92 miles per hour.
14:40So, it went from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane
14:44in less than two days,
14:46which is basically insane and off the charts.
14:50And if that wasn't enough,
14:53Hurricane Melton also went through this thing called eyewall replacement.
14:57Now, hurricanes spin around a mostly clear eye in the center.
15:00But overnight, Melton started forming new bands of rain on its outer edges,
15:04creating a second ring around its eye.
15:07This process helped Melton grow even bigger,
15:09spreading out the wind speeds
15:11and giving it a larger footprint.
15:13It's kind of like shedding its skin
15:15and getting ready to become even more powerful.
15:18Hurricane Melton also had this little wobble in its path,
15:21which changed where it was heading.
15:23You can think of it like a spinning top
15:25that gets nudged and wobbles a bit
15:27before finding its balance again.
15:29That wobble meant some areas could get either hit hard
15:33or be spared from the worst of the storm.
15:37Thankfully, Hurricane Melton weakened a bit
15:39because of some tricky wind changes up in the atmosphere
15:42until it finally made landfall.
15:44After that, it moved across the peninsula
15:46and headed out to sea,
15:48quickly losing strength as it pulled away from the warmer waters.
15:52Now, even though the damage was significant,
15:55the good news, if you can call it that,
15:57is that experts were honestly expecting things to be way, way worse.
16:01Still, it raises a question.
16:04How close was Melton's wind speed to the maximum?
16:07Or, in other words,
16:08is there a limit to how strong a hurricane can get?
16:12Well, the answer is yes,
16:13there is a speed limit for hurricane winds.
16:16But it's not a set number.
16:18Right now, the strongest the storm can get
16:20is around 200 miles per hour.
16:22But that maximum speed can change
16:25depending on many factors,
16:26like the heat in the ocean.
16:27Think of the ocean as the fuel for hurricanes.
16:30The warmer the water,
16:32the more fuel these storms have to work with.
16:36Experts believe that as the oceans continue to warm,
16:39they can ramp up the wind speeds
16:41and the impacts of hurricanes,
16:42making them a lot stronger.
16:44But other things can also help figure out
16:47how intense a hurricane can get.
16:49For example, the heat in the air
16:51and the temperature at the top of the clouds matter,
16:53as they also affect how fast heat moves
16:56from the ocean surface to the top of the storm.
16:59Some estimates suggest that maximum wind speeds
17:02could reach closer to 220 miles per hour
17:05until the end of the century.
17:07So it's definitely something
17:08that experts need to keep an eye on
17:10to help prevent future disasters.
17:12As we move forward,
17:14it's essential to keep researching
17:15and studying these storms.
17:17The more we understand them,
17:19the better we can protect ourselves
17:20and our communities.
17:23Back in the day,
17:24from 774 to 775,
17:27Earth got hit with a mega blast of radiation.
17:31This crazy burst of energy left its mark.
17:34Three rings from that year
17:35show way too high levels of radioactive stuff.
17:39But what exactly caused it?
17:42Scientists are inclined to think
17:44that the reason was a solar flare.
17:46Some folks think maybe a massive supernova
17:49caused a radiation blast.
17:51But astronomer Phil Plait
17:53says that if that had been the case,
17:55it would have had to be less than
17:57a thousand light-years away
17:58and would have had been crazy bright.
18:00But there's no record of that happening.
18:02No bright, shiny Death Star in sight.
18:06After looking at the radioactive carbon
18:08and beryllium in tree rings,
18:10scientists ruled out a bunch
18:11of other possibilities.
18:13At first, they considered that
18:14it was a smash-up between neutron stars
18:17or a neutron star and a black hole.
18:20These types of crashes
18:21produce a super quick blast
18:23of gamma rays without any light show,
18:26which lines up best with the evidence.
18:28But these kinds of collisions
18:30are super rare.
18:32Plait thinks it's kinda unlikely
18:34that this is the answer.
18:36He figures we should only see
18:37one of these events in our galaxy
18:39about once every million years.
18:41So having one just 1,200 years ago
18:44seems pretty wild.
18:46Scientists are seriously worried
18:48about these rare events.
18:49If one happened closer to Earth,
18:51it could seriously mess up life
18:53on our planet.
18:54Even if it was thousands
18:56of light-years away,
18:57a similar event today
18:58could cause chaos
18:59with all the fancy electronic systems
19:01we've come to rely on.
19:03So it's a good thing
19:05those gamma-ray bursts are so rare,
19:07because if they were more common,
19:09Earth might be in for a rough ride.
19:12You may think that if our planet
19:14could withstand mega-radiation blasts,
19:16it can easily withstand
19:17something less frightening.
19:19Let's say, grasshoppers.
19:21Sorry to say that,
19:22but it's not exactly true.
19:24Back in 1874,
19:26during a hot summer in Kansas,
19:29things took a strange turn.
19:32Grasshoppers,
19:32or should I say,
19:33locusts,
19:34invaded the Great Plains
19:36like nobody's business.
19:37They came down like a storm,
19:39blanketing houses,
19:41trees,
19:41and even poor trains passing by.
19:44These bugs were on a mission
19:45to cause chaos.
19:48Farmers had to scramble
19:49to protect their wells
19:50and just about anything else
19:52worth saving.
19:53Locusts landed everywhere,
19:56wreaking havoc on everything in sight.
19:58Even poor sheep lost their wool.
20:01Locusts even stripped paint off wagons
20:03and handles off pitchforks.
20:05This is how destructive they were.
20:08Livestock tried to fight back
20:10by eating them,
20:11but there were just too many
20:12of these insects.
20:13That year,
20:14those critters caused
20:15about $200 million in crop damage.
20:18The locust invasion was so tough,
20:21even the U.S. Army stepped in to help.
20:23In the end,
20:24locusts began to disappear,
20:26sparing the plains
20:27from further devastation.
20:30Natural disasters
20:31can be even more unexpected
20:33than radiation blasts
20:34from space
20:35and locust invasions.
20:37Check this out.
20:38Back in June 2017,
20:40a reindeer herder
20:41up in northwest Siberia
20:43was minding their own business
20:44when they suddenly heard
20:46a crazy loud blast
20:48and saw smoke
20:49shooting up from the ground.
20:50If that happened to me,
20:52I'd need to change my pants.
20:54Sorry.
20:55Later on,
20:56they found this huge hole
20:57that was like 23 feet wide
20:59and nearly 65 feet deep
21:01and was surrounded
21:02by chunks of ice and dirt.
21:04It turned out
21:05that there were over 17
21:07such black holes in the area.
21:09They were filled with peaty water
21:11and shrouded in mystery.
21:13Some folks thought
21:14those were sinkholes.
21:15Others were sure
21:16they were left
21:17by top-secret device tests
21:19or even a bunch of meteorites.
21:21Now,
21:22the latest idea
21:23is that these holes
21:24are actually craters
21:25caused by the Arctic
21:26warming up
21:27and melting the frozen ground.
21:29The theory states
21:30that as the ground thaws,
21:32gas pockets
21:33trapped beneath the surface
21:34burst through,
21:36creating such dramatic holes.
21:39Apparently,
21:40these eerie craters
21:41have been showing up
21:42in specific spots
21:43in Siberia
21:44where ancient geological faults
21:46have been leaking out
21:47hot natural gas
21:48for ages.
21:49Combine that
21:50with some leftover methane
21:51from old lake sediments
21:53and you've got a recipe
21:54for some explosive surprises
21:56as the planet heats up.
21:59Not scared yet?
22:00Alright,
22:01maybe you're afraid
22:02of darkness, huh?
22:03If so,
22:04you wouldn't like it
22:05back in 536.
22:07It's the year
22:08when the world
22:09went through
22:09a crazy 18-month period
22:11of darkness.
22:13A mysterious fog
22:14covered Europe,
22:15the Middle East
22:16and parts of Asia
22:17blocking out the sun
22:19and causing chaos.
22:21It was like the Dark Ages
22:22but for real.
22:24It turns out
22:25that the main culprit
22:26behind this fog
22:27was a volcanic eruption
22:28in Iceland.
22:30This eruption
22:31spread ash
22:32across the northern hemisphere
22:33causing temperatures
22:34to drop
22:35and crops to fail.
22:37People were freezing
22:38and starving.
22:39It was a mess.
22:42Historians from back
22:43in the day
22:43even talked about
22:44how weird it was.
22:46The sun looked
22:47like the moon,
22:48summers were freezing cold
22:49and even China
22:50had summer snow.
22:52It was all because
22:53of the volcanic ash
22:55blocking out the sun.
22:56And to make things
22:57even worse,
22:58this period of darkness
23:00sparked the beginning
23:01of the bubonic plague
23:03in 541.
23:05Talk about a rough time
23:06to be alive.
23:09Let's go back
23:10to Siberia real quick.
23:12Back in 1908,
23:14way out in the wilds
23:15of Siberia,
23:16an asteroid dropped
23:17for an unexpected visit.
23:19Today,
23:20we know it
23:21as the Tunguska asteroid
23:22but it didn't get
23:23its name instantly.
23:25Local folks
23:26only caught a glimpse
23:27of the show.
23:28A bright fireball
23:29streaking across the sky
23:31followed by
23:32a massive boom.
23:34Trees went flying,
23:36fires blazed
23:37and animals
23:38weren't too happy
23:39about it either.
23:40But since the area
23:41was so remote,
23:42not many folks
23:43took notice.
23:45For almost two decades,
23:47nobody bothered
23:48to check out
23:48the Tunguska site.
23:50People had too much
23:51on their plates
23:51back then.
23:52But then,
23:53scientists finally
23:55made it out there
23:55and found evidence
23:56of the asteroid's
23:57shenanigans.
23:58Later in expeditions,
24:00they found some
24:01spacey microparticles.
24:03Fast forward to now
24:04and NASA has a whole
24:06planetary defense thing
24:07going on.
24:08They even sent a mission
24:09to test out
24:10asteroid-deflecting tech
24:11because who knows
24:13when the next cosmic rock
24:14will come knocking
24:15on our door, right?
24:17In the middle
24:18of the 19th century,
24:20there was one more
24:21epic solar storm
24:22called the Carrington Event.
24:24It may not sound
24:25like a big deal to you,
24:27but it had pretty
24:28rough consequences.
24:29The next day
24:30after the storm,
24:32Earth was hit
24:32with this insane
24:33geomagnetic storm
24:35that threw telegraphs
24:36off the rails
24:37and brought auroras
24:38to the tropics.
24:39And it's the place
24:41where they normally
24:41never show up.
24:43Turns out,
24:45all this space weather
24:46madness started
24:46with weird stuff
24:47happening on the
24:48sun's surface,
24:49like sunspots.
24:51From these spots,
24:52solar flares
24:53and other crazy
24:54electromagnetic stuff
24:55can pop out
24:56and mess with
24:57our technology.
24:59Massive solar storms
25:00like this one
25:01can shoot out
25:01from the sun
25:02at speeds
25:02of up to
25:031,800 miles per second.
25:05They can contain
25:06billions of tons
25:07of solar material,
25:09complete with
25:09a sassy little
25:10magnetic field
25:11that loves to mess
25:12with Earth's
25:13magnetic field
25:13when they meet.
25:15Now,
25:16listen closely.
25:17We're getting close
25:18to the next
25:19solar maximum
25:20in 2025,
25:21so it's a good time
25:22to check out
25:23the history
25:23of the worst
25:24solar storms,
25:25like the Carrington Event,
25:26and take notice.
25:28Imagine if a similar
25:29storm hit today.
25:31An internet apocalypse,
25:32anyone?
25:33Businesses would be
25:34sent offline
25:35and would be facing
25:36some serious damages.
25:38Luckily,
25:39these mega solar storms
25:40don't happen very often.
25:42But hey,
25:43space weather
25:43is tricky to predict,
25:45so who knows
25:45when the next one
25:46will hit?
Comments