Over 14,000 years ago, Earth was struck by a colossal space radiation storm—a super solar storm of unprecedented magnitude. A recent study published on October 9, 2023, in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A reports findings from an investigation into tree rings cut from preserved ancient trees in the French Alps.
These ancient trees, preserved through riverbed sediments, displayed elevated levels of radioactive carbon within a single growth ring, dating back approximately 14,300 years. Radioactive carbon, or carbon-14, is an isotope of carbon created when cosmic rays collide with nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere.
The heightened levels of radioactive carbon within these growth rings suggest a significant surge in cosmic rays during that time. The emergence of sharp spikes in these rings corresponded to findings from recently excavated ice cores in Greenland, indicating high beryllium levels during the same era.
Beryllium is typically generated when cosmic rays strike the nuclei of other elements. Researchers believe that the sudden surge in radiation likely resulted from a massive solar storm, possibly triggered by a plasma cloud from a solar eruption, and the high-velocity radiation known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), propelled into space by a colossal solar flare.
The actual appearance of such a colossal solar storm remains outside our current understanding. Scientists acknowledge that if confirmed, this storm would be the “largest storm ever identified” originating from the sun. A recurrence of a similar solar storm in modern times would spell disaster for our technologically dependent society.
Researchers have dubbed this ancient solar storm event as the “Miyake Event”—a colossal solar storm that has never been directly observed but has left evidence in fossil records.
To date, at least six, possibly eight, other Miyake Events have been detected through tree rings or geological evidence worldwide, with the most recent event occurring approximately 1,030 years ago.
The most prominent observed solar storm event was the Carrington Event, which erupted from a massive sunspot on the sun’s surface in 1859. While this event did not produce the radiation levels seen in the tree rings, it did create an immense solar flare that astronomers on Earth could observe for about five minutes and had an energy equivalent to about 10 billion 1-megaton nuclear bombs.
Researchers suggest that the most recent Miyake Event was significantly more powerful than the Carrington Event, but the newly discovered solar storm could be twice as strong.
If a solar storm of equivalent strength were to impact Earth today, it would be a catastrophic event. Tim Heaton, co-author and an expert in radiocarbon at the University of Leeds in the UK, stated, “Such superstorms could permanently damage our transformer equipment in the electrical grid, leading to widespread and long-lasting power outages. They could also permanently harm our communication satellites.”
Miyake Events may have also played a crucial role in our evolutionary history. Previous studies have suggested that cosmic rays from catastrophic stellar events might have initiated life on Earth.
The exact nature of the Miyake events and whether they can be predicted in advance is still uncertain. Similar solar storms have been observed erupting from distant stars, but they offer limited information about our own sun.
Therefore, there is still much to learn about the behavior of the sun and the potential hazards it poses to life on Earth.
Source: Live Science