Solar storm effects on electronics

A solar storm caused by a sudden burst of brightness in the sun struck earth early this morning, and some expected disruptions as a result. Airplane travel, GPS systems even phones can be affected by a solar storm. Solar astronomers like Jack Harvey have been keeping a close eye on the solar flare. "We have an instrument in Australia that picked up this flare very nicely on this image here," said Harvey. Experts said the disturbances are caused by a solar storm that hits earth's magnetic field and causes electrical currents that move around in the atmosphere and when strong enough cause electrical currents on the ground, occasionally causing disturbances in power and electronics, but this storm missed the predicted dangers. "It turns out fortunately for us it was a parallel situation," said Harvey. Harvey said the biggest effect the storm has had is re-routed planes. "Away from the polar regions to avoid the possibility of interference from this flare," said Harvey. Harvey said additional radiation at the Polar Regions during this storm keep planes from flying there. Electrical engineering professor Richard Ziolkowski said these storms can also burn out electronics. "People have devised approaches to prevent that from occurring, but those kinds of things could happen if one of these greatly large pulses hit," said Ziolkowski. He said many electronics now have built in shields and those shields have gotten so advanced that a solar storm like this will have little to no affect. It will take a much stronger storm to disrupt the system.