Solar Flares and Their Real Threat to Mankind

After watching the movie "Knowing" (starring Nicholas Cage), a lot of us probably headed straight to the computer and googled the words "solar flare". What exactly is it, and how is it like to destroy the Earth? Is it a reality, or a myth to create that sense of doomsday feeling many filmmakers inject into movies these days? And if solar flares are real, is there a reason to fear that one day, the Earth will perish in a snap?

According to experts, solar flares are real. There have been several recorded incidents in the past showing that one recent explosion is more powerful than the one before it. Scientists in Finland confirmed that "there was indeed an increase in solar activity over the last 100 years or so", based on the radioactive isotopes they studied from meteorites that had crashed onto the Earth in the last two centuries.

A solar flare can be the equivalent of hundreds of millions of hydrogen bombs exploding. When they occur, they cause a disruption in the earth's magnetic field. Communication satellites may lose signal, radio blackouts and cellphone dropouts may happen. Your GPS-enabled gadget may suddenly become useless. Spacecraft operations are also affected. The most common visual sign of this eruption in the sky is an aurora or "Northern Lights".

Considering how powerful a solar flare, it is possible to wipe out the entire Earth, or even the solar system within a few minutes. Scientists are able to detect the sun's solar flare cycle by the presence of sunspots. A sunspot may be the size of an entire planet, supercharged with magnetic activity which, when pressure is released, is the equivalent of a champagne bottle spewing out when uncorked.

As I watched the movie and read through relevant material concerning solar flares, I can't help but wonder whether we should take solar flares seriously as a threat to our existence. Even if scientists say the Earth's temperature has risen to about 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1880, we are not sure if it is because of the sun's activity or our own mindlessness. After all, there are other things we can change to make to the Earth more livable in the future. Consider global warming, for instance.