Recent discussions about the potential of an “internet apocalypse” brought on by photo voltaic storms have captured the eye of social media customers. While the idea might sound like science fiction, consultants counsel {that a} widespread web outage triggered by a strong photo voltaic storm is a uncommon, however believable occasion. As the solar enters a very lively section often known as the “solar maximum” in 2025, issues concerning the world’s preparedness have began to rise.

In impact, when the Sun is extraordinarily unstable, it spews out vitality in area. This could be within the type of what’s referred to as photo voltaic flares, coronal mass ejection, photo voltaic wind and so on. If it occurs to collide with the Earth’s magnetic area, it instantly sparks a geomagnetic storm. While one impact of which are the gorgeous auroras, the opposite is the impression on electrical grids, satellites, web infrastructure, even oil rigs might need to be shut, and extra. If a photo voltaic storm is highly effective sufficient, just like the Carrington occasion in 1859, it could destroy satellites, energy grids and extra. The Internet outage can final months because the harm will take that lengthy to restore, in keeping with the Washington Post reports.

Researcher sheds gentle on the necessity for web resilience

Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi, a pc science professor on the University of California, Irvine, has performed a major function in popularising the time period “internet apocalypse” via her paper titled “Solar Superstorms: Planning for an Internet Apocalypse.” Jyothi’s curiosity in web resilience was piqued through the COVID-19 pandemic when she realised society’s lack of preparedness for such a disaster. She noticed a dearth of analysis on the subject of widespread web failure, significantly in excessive circumstances.

Jyothi emphasises {that a} extreme photo voltaic storm might considerably impression large-scale infrastructure, together with submarine communication cables (which carry most of our Internet site visitors), probably disrupting long-distance connectivity. Furthermore, the focus of web infrastructure in northern latitudes makes them significantly weak to photo voltaic storms. This facet has typically been ignored until now.

The penalties of such outages may very well be dire, probably lasting for months. Repairing the harm brought on by these occasions would depend upon the size and the time required for restoration.

A Researcher’s Regret

However, Jyothi expresses regret for coining the time period “internet apocalypse” in her paper. She mentioned, she feels “bad” for having used the phrase. However, the reason being essential. She says that getting ready for such an occasion falls totally on governments and firms and odd folks have only a few choices. She additionally notes that her paper acquired an unexpectedly excessive stage of consideration.