SALISBURY, Md.- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said geomagnetic and solar radiation storms that reached Earth after solar flares on Tuesday were a bit overrated.
Geomagnetic activity and solar radiation are measured on similar 5 point scales. (G1 though G5 and S1 through S5). Many were worried about the projected G3/S4 expectations because the activity can interrupt communications for Earth.
John Willmuth of Ocean Pines has been working with radios since he was in high school. He said the Earth is reapproaching the peak of the 11-year-cycle of sunspots, which allows low power radios to communicate longer distances, but he noted that the solar flares could be a problem if they are big.
"If you have a pretty big solar flare or fairly strong one, it can disrupt it and it can knock your daytime communications right out and it can also affect it at night too," Willmuth said.
In response to the projected geomagnetic and solar radiation activity, some planes were rerouted from routes near the North Pole and other areas that could possibly expose passengers to higher levels of radiation.
The event on Tuesday was not as severe as expected, but scientists say things are not over yet. If the solar flares align more with the planet, that could cause trouble. However, the storms were expected to die down sometime Friday morning
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