This post was originally published on the SEL Blog for Temple University on March 7, 2014
If you’ve tried to do research using the libraries’ services this week, you may have encountered a few hiccups. The computer labs in the Paley Library lost their network connection for a little while and our EZBorrow system and Summon discovery service weren’t working properly. All these problems have been resolved and we’re all very sorry of the inconvenience these issue caused. It seems odd, though, that they all happened in the span of a week.
I did a little research and found a possible scapegoat for all of the libraries technical problems: space weather. On February 24, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory witnessed a massive solar flare. It had a class of X4.9.
A news report on AccuWeather.com explains how solar flares are measured thusly:
“Solar flares are measured on a scale of intensity ranging from A, B, M, C to X. The X-strength flares, the level the recent solar activity has been categorized as, are the highest strength.”
The number after the letter also relates to strength. X2 is twice as strong as X, X3 is three times as strong. So the flare on the 24th was 4.9 times stronger than an X-class flare. That’s pretty strong!
Solar flares are impressive to watch, but they also can cause a chain reaction that results in problems for our communications infrastructures here on Earth. The solar storms affect our ionosphere and magnetosphere which in turn leads to “electromagnetic induction in long electrical wires” and “electromagnetic interference leading to communications disruption.” (Howard, 2014). Our network issues this week could certainly be described as communication disruptions.
Solar activity has caused trouble in the past for communications. In 1998, a solar flare knocked out the functionality of 80% of pagers (Eagleman, 2012), which sound ridiculous but it was real problem for physicians and other professionals at the time. In 1989 Quebec’s power grid went down completely after a huge solar storm erupted. Several other cities in the Northeast had damage to their power grids and radio communications in Russia were failing as well. The largest solar storm recorded was in 1859 and is called the Carrington Super Flare. The Carrington flare didn’t affect any pagers for obvious reasons, but it lit up the night sky across the globe.
So, is the solar flare of February 24 the cause of network problems at Temple University Libraries this week? Maybe. Solar activity could cause these types of problems and, given that it takes a few days for the outbursts to impact us, the timeline makes sense. But I’ll let you come to your own conclusions.
Read more:
- Howard, T. (2014). Space weather and coronal mass ejections. New York: Springer. Available in the Science & Engineering Library (SEL): QB505 H693 2014
- National Research Council, Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences. Space Studies Board, Committee on the Societal and Economic Impacts of Severe Space Weather Events. (2008). Severe space weather events: understanding societal and economic impacts : a workshop report. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
- Singh, A. A., Siingh, D., & Singh, R. R. (2010). Space Weather: Physics, Effects and Predictability. Surveys In Geophysics, 31(6), 581-638. doi:10.1007/s10712-010-9103-1
Suggested search terms: “solar flares”; “solar storms”; “space weather”; “coronal mass ejections”; Carrington Super Flare; geomagnetic storms
If we must talk about the weather, at least let us talk about space weather.
Margaret Janz - Hermit Warbler 