Space weather poses dual threat: stunning auroras mask infrastructure risks

The Sun looks constant from Earth—a steady presence overhead, lighting the sky whether we notice it or not. But up close, the Sun is restless. Its surface erupts regularly with bursts of charged gas called solar flares, and with far more violent explosions known as coronal mass ejections. These events hurl plasma outward through space, and when they reach Earth, they collide with the planet's magnetic field and create what scientists call space weather.

This week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is tracking several coronal mass ejections that could trigger a minor geomagnetic storm. People across Canada and the northern United States may witness auroras on the evening of September 9, 2026—those luminous green and purple streaks that draw crowds and fill social media feeds. The beauty is real. But the phenomenon that creates it carries a hidden cost.

Space weather events add charged particles to Earth's atmosphere, increasing drag on satellites and causing them to lose altitude and fall. They disrupt the radio waves that satellites use to communicate with ground stations. GPS, which relies on those same radio signals, becomes unreliable—and GPS is woven into far more than the navigation app on your phone. Aviation, maritime shipping, robotics, farming, military operations, and transportation systems all depend on positioning accuracy within a few meters. When space weather degrades that precision, the consequences ripple across industries. In 2025, space weather events disrupted satellite communications and triggered overheating alarms in power grids. But history suggests the threat could be far worse.

In 1859, a solar flare so powerful it outshone the Sun itself struck Earth. Telegraph lines—then a cutting-edge technology—shorted out across continents. That same night, brilliant auroras lit the sky. If such an event occurred today, the damage would be catastrophic. A sufficiently strong solar storm could disable cell networks and electrical power grids. Those grids underpin not just electricity but communications, transportation, utilities, and even sewage systems. The infrastructure that modern life depends on would fail simultaneously across vast regions.

Scientists cannot prevent these events, but they can prepare. Real-time monitoring of the Sun allows grid operators to reduce or reroute electricity before a coronal mass ejection arrives, potentially preventing total collapse. NASA has accelerated its monitoring efforts. In March 2025, the agency launched the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere, a four-satellite mission studying how the Sun's outer layer generates the solar wind. In September 2025, NASA sent two more missions to the L1 Lagrange point—a gravitationally balanced location between Earth and Sun where spacecraft can observe the Sun without constantly burning fuel. The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe will map how far particles from solar eruptions travel into space. The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will observe what happens to Earth's outer atmosphere during space weather events. In 2027, NASA plans to launch the Sun Coronal Ejection Tracker to monitor how coronal mass ejections evolve as they leave the Sun.

The urgency of this work extends beyond Earth. NASA plans to return humans to the Moon before the decade ends, but the Moon lacks Earth's protective magnetic field. Astronauts on the lunar surface face direct exposure to cosmic radiation and solar particles. During a large solar energetic particle event, an astronaut in a spacesuit could receive a radiation dose exceeding 1,000 times what someone on Earth receives—enough to exceed a lifetime recommended exposure limit by a factor of ten. The health risks include cancer and other serious complications. Researchers at the University of Michigan are developing a forecasting center specifically designed to predict space weather events with enough accuracy and lead time to give astronauts warning to shelter indoors. As the world becomes more interconnected and more dependent on technology, the stakes of space weather grow higher. The beautiful auroras we see are a reminder that the Sun's activity reaches us, and that preparation is no longer optional.