Shillong, October 9: A team of international scientists has uncovered a significant spike in radiocarbon levels dating back 14,300 years by examining ancient tree rings discovered in the French Alps.
As per IANS, this radiocarbon surge was a consequence of an enormous solar storm, the most substantial ever recorded. To put it in perspective, the famed Carrington Event of 1859, the most significant solar storm directly observed, wreaked havoc on Earth by destroying telegraph equipment and causing a night-time aurora so brilliant that birds mistook it for dawn.
Now, researchers have identified nine extreme solar storms, known as Miyake Events, occurring in the last 15,000 years. The most recent confirmed events transpired in 993 AD and 774 AD. However, the newly detected 14,300-year-old storm surpasses these two in magnitude, being roughly twice their size.
The Miyake Events, including the recently discovered one, were on an entirely different scale altogether.
In their study, a collaborative effort by scientists from the UK, France, and the Czech Republic, radiocarbon levels in ancient trees, preserved in the eroded banks of the Drouzet River in the Southern French Alps, were analyzed. These tree trunks, categorized as subfossils due to their incomplete fossilization process, were dissected into minute individual tree rings. Examination of these rings revealed an unprecedented radiocarbon spike precisely 14,300 years ago.
By comparing this radiocarbon anomaly with beryllium measurements from Greenland ice cores, the team, as detailed in their paper published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, postulates that this spike resulted from an immense solar storm, which would have released substantial amounts of energetic particles into Earth’s atmosphere.
The scientists issue a stark warning about the implications of such colossal solar storms in the present day. They could potentially devastate modern technological society, causing extensive damage to telecommunications, satellite systems, and electricity grids, resulting in astronomical financial losses.
Understanding the risks posed by events like these is crucial, allowing us to prepare, fortify our communication and energy systems, and shield them from potential harm.
“Extreme solar storms could have huge impacts on Earth. Such super storms could permanently damage the transformers in our electricity grids, resulting in huge and widespread blackouts lasting months. They could also result in permanent damage to the satellites that we all rely on for navigation and telecommunication, leaving them unusable. They would also create severe radiation risks to astronauts,” warned Tim Heaton, Professor of Applied Statistics at the University of Leeds in the UK.