Scientists have found evidence of past extreme solar storms. Their return could be disastrous for our technology-based societies

By Maarten Blaauw, Professor, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast
Ilya Usokin, Professor of Space Physics, Department of Space Physics and Astronomy, University of Oulu
Tim Heaton, Professor of Applied Statistics, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Leeds

In September 1859, the same year that Darwin published On the Origin of Species, telegraph systems across Europe and North America stopped working and started sparking, leading to fires in some cases.

Just hours before, researchers had observed the first ever confirmed solar flare – an intense burst of radiation emitted from the Sun. It was a warning something big was about to hit our planet. Most of the northern and southern skies lit up with brilliant…

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