Are the Northern Lights dangerous? - Fabio Pacucci

Explore the science of solar storms, and find out why they occur and just how prepared we are for a major event.
--
In September 1859, miners following the Colorado gold rush woke up to another sunny day. Or so they thought. To their surprise, they soon discovered it was actually 1am and the sky wasn’t lit by the sun, but rather by brilliant drapes of light. The blazing glow was a solar storm- the largest in recorded history. So what exactly is a solar storm? Fabio Paccuci explains this astrophysical phenomena.
Lesson by Fabio Pacucci, directed by Nick Hilditch.
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[@rickseiden1]

I live in Buffalo, NY. That storm in 2003 that took out the Canadian power grid also impacted us. We lost power for a few days. I was traveling for business at the time, and my neighbor came over and hooked us up to his generator. Buffalo is the "City of Good Neighbors," after all.

[@omegagiraffe1172]

I live in buffalo as well and definitely remember that

[@Gaetano.94]

That wasn't a storm. It was a tree branch in Ohio that caused that huge mess. I was camping for a week and didn't know why my campsites power wasn't working until I heard of it the next day

[@181cameron]

At least it was Buffalo. It would be terrible if it was a city that people cared about that got affected. (I'm from Rochester, so I'm allowed to make this joke)

[@rickseiden1]

@@181cameron You only get make that joke because less people care about Rochester than Buffalo :P

[@MrHardRock.]

I remember that i was 6 in nyc, power was back next day though

[@twig2044]

you guys never fail to impress me with these videos

[@ZevVeli]

I remember as a kid being told that there was going to be a massive solar storm that would wipe out all electronics for a 7 year period around 2002. I guess that this was due to the predictions of the whole 11 year cycle.

[@CharDhue]

Soo the next one is sometimes around +-2024? And we just can hope it's not soo big that it will fry out most of our electronics

[@aemrt5745]

Well, it's all a numbers game. High impact low probability event, with odds increasing with solar activity.

[@jonjacobjingleheimerschmid3798]

That's ok...that bottle of Scotch iv been saving for it will keep.....

[@renatoafonsomaiacarneiro950]

Not gonna lie, this was one of my deepest fears, but now I'm glad that we are at least preparing for such an event and are not TOTALLY defenseless 😅

[@ScumfuckMcDoucheface]

That's funny, because it's one of my biggest dreams/fantasies. =) haha

[@S0NAL_]

@@ScumfuckMcDoucheface Yeah, mine too, it'll be so hauntingly beautiful to behold such an occurrence

[@Sagar10.]

@@ScumfuckMcDoucheface same. I just want it to happen. It feels like humans are moving way to fast, i just want a whole day were everything stops and we all can enjoy the beauty of aurora...

[@MrTwige]

you have no defense from the radiation...none at all!

[@thefinger1776]

@@MrTwige That's what you think, I'm actually a radioactive abomination raised and molded from the deepest parts of Earth's core, I eat Elephant's Foot for breakfast, I eat Trinitite as if it were candy, I live at the core of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma.

[@Square_Peg]

Oh great, something else to add to my list of things to worry about at 3am when my brain won't shut off and go to sleep

[@TheFirstDesertMan]

We learned about this in my Natural Disaster class! It’s amazing yet scary!

[@electronicbamboo6764]

Natural disaster class sounds sick I wanna take that

[@aemrt5745]

Sounds like a pretty cool class!

[@Gunin.uranus]

Whoa.. Never been this early to a Ted Ed video

[@zurie8608]

Same

[@KrispyKrackers]

Same(make a chain!)

[@c.webber1247]

Same :0

[@bryan8k]

Same!

[@gabrielolaciregui]

Same

[@andy8357]

Someone who live just above Tropic of Cancer it would be spectacular to see those lights.

[@varunapathak2096]

Ikr, btw we know each other?

[@nunyabiznes33]

Yeah, I'm almost near the equator. Might as well get a light show before civilization collapse.

[@TheOnlyName]

Truly interesting to think about! I would really love to see the northern lights some day.

[@SyndarNailo]

Amazing, I had a nightmare where the Earth escaped the sun orbit and went travel through the space, now is the turn of the solar storm that bring us back of about 2-3 centuries

[@rshua]

Good(?) news for you, your nightmare is a movie.

[@sophiayarushina3271]

@@rshua what movie???/

[@chaitanyak.n.4768]

@@sophiayarushina3271 wandering earth

[@Shinzon23]

@@rshua *chinese propaganda piece

[@Kevdug69]

I actually had the same dream. Still have chills when I remember it.

[@Newdivide]

There's a Japanese film that took place after a solar storm that took out all electrical systems. It's called survival family

[@Incognito-bo2he]

For real?

[@regularfather4708]

I shall view this film. Thank you

[@Shinzon23]

@@Incognito-bo2he yeah but it gets incredibly dark at times

[@Incognito-bo2he]

@@Shinzon23 What? I don't get it

[@theoldgeezersmith9029]

Why???

[@pringleratz]

woah i can't wait to wake up one day and be like, "oh well, looks like the sun screwed up my wifi again, gotta call the wifi people."

[@RealOberonn13]

Sun hates wifi

[@adarshmohapatra5058]

except you won't be able to call anyone, since the telephone lines will probably get fried too.

[@kiarona.]

More like send a letter/carrier pigeon to the WiFi people as all the phone lines will be fried 😅

[@Michael-io6db]

Happy to hear you talking about this. We are woefully underprepared for another Carrington event

[@aemrt5745]

I watch the Sun with amateur telescopes, in particular the hydrogen alpha portion of the spectrum. Seeing surface features and promenances change in near real time is fascinating. A rare treat (something I have experienced) is seeing a transient flare erupt. A funny quote I have seen, "Solar observing is relaxing, like watching a fish tank, except every now and then one of the fish explodes." It puts the power of the Sun in perspective!

[@DreamDaddie]

whoa, scary. As a guy that plays a lot of video games this trips me out that such a thing could have happened.

[@live4him4eva]

I wonder how auroras would look in atmospheres of a different composition than ours... Would be pretty cool if we can model that to see what colors we'd get on other planets.

[@aemrt5745]

Actually all the outer planets have aurora! (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) There are cool images! Look it up!

[@livefully7568]

or if we could seed some elements above the atmosphere for on demand shows

[@chengyiq3066]

A solar storm is both beautiful yet is capable to bring devastating consequences

[@181cameron]

Not unlike Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Or Casino.

[@klittlet]

So is a kick on the balls

[@AlexGameOver_13]

"The sun is a deadly laser" -Bill Wurtz

[@VoltageMarvel]

Damn i remember that 03 surge. Went from watching Powerpuff girls one sec, to absolute blackout the next. Thankfully my mother had an unnecessarily large amount of candles.

[@margoshuteran1781]

I learned about this when I was a kid from my dad, every once in a while it pops up in the news or on my KZbin feed, but I’ve always had a dedicated plan in place on what to do in the event of something like this and how/where to meet up with my loved ones wherever I am

[@TimCizej137]

Thank You for talking about this.

[@joseaca1010]

this possibility has worried me for a while, its nice to know theres some countermeasures in place, and itll probably get better

[@KenH60109]

You have no idea how much I freaked out when I saw that one Kurzgesagt video about solar storms.

[@lucasurquia2900]

I'm addicted to your videos! they are both enterteining and educative at the same time.

[@carlrodalegrado4104]

the most optimistic scenario is that core systems are shielded while scientists broadcast a solar storm approaching days ahead like it's a weather report and people prepare their weekend to observe the auroras at night even the tropical areas.

[@DudeStone]

Good thing I watched Ted-Ed and have prepared for this moment

[@im_super-nOva]

Humans take things for granted until it's snatched away from them.

[@lennystalks422]

Solar storms can also be mimicked artificially by detonating nuclear weapons in space above the earth. The intense release of energy creates auroras and can also knock out telecommunications over a wide area.

[@aemrt5745]

Yep. Project Starfish Prime demonstrated that.

[@johnromero1537]

That's an electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

[@freeman10000]

Great video. Informative, and enjoyable.

[@notneean]

I was actually thinking about solar storms and Northern Light the other day. TedEd came to cure my curiosity

[@djcjr1x1]

Now I know why I saw amazingly colored intense northern lights in northern Michigan in 1989, thanks!🤓👍

[@youngmoney8867]

this vid just popped up on my timeline, never this early on ted ed videos

[@GalactusOG]

Overly hot days can slow the internet in the area.

[@Dez083]

Overloads the power grid, Electronics don't like heat

[@GalactusOG]

@@Dez083 Yup, So many factors at play.

[@hazardeur]

Overly cold days can do that too, just for other reasons

[@eldritchbeluga9277]

This is the same thing that happened in Assassin's Creed, wiped out the entire Isu race. Wish they came back to that plot line

[@feynstein1004]

How does a solar storm wipe out an entire race tho? 🤔

[@eldritchbeluga9277]

@@feynstein1004 Destroyed their tech and deep fried them

[@_MARC0_40]

Some isu survived the great catastrophe, odin from valhalla is an isu

[@feynstein1004]

@@_MARC0_40 Lol wut. Is this some reference I'm not getting? 😂

[@cryptorick9825]

We're entering a Solar maximum, be prepared for such events.

[@llogan_gabriell]

Agreed its going to be very interesting to see what shall happen between 2025/2027. If they are already causing distress of systems now in the minimum, then what is yet to come once we hit maximum.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

Our technology still needs a lot of improvements against solar flares.

[@aj28b2xe16]

‏﴿‌‏ وإنَّ السَّاعَةَ لآتيَةٌ فَاصْفَحِ الصَّفْحَ الْجَميلَ ﴾ ‏تذكر أهوال القيامة يعيد الأشياء إلى حجمها الحقيقي، ‏الدنيا لا تستحق الكثير من التضحيات ."❤

[@nijironi2114]

Teacher: So why were you late for class? Me: ...the sun

[@michaelkhoo5846]

Nice explanation, thank you!

[@alparslankorkmaz2964]

Nice video.

[@emilym7517]

Great timing as there is a G3 level storms warning right now (and an X1.3 class flare from the sun yesterday). Remember to look up tonight, there’s a good chance for an aurora storm.

[@Mariposa.21996]

Had to watch the video twice bc I couldn’t focus on the first time thinking what if my internet connection goes offline right now 😅😂

[@Millennium3000]

Short and informative

[@awr3721]

Nice video 👍🏻

[@Paraplegicoctopus-jh3mn]

Ngl, the term "coronal mass ejection" and the subsequent graphic had me thinking about the sun jizzing somehow.

[@karldavis7392]

I loved the Star Trek scene from the Klingon civil war where a ship jumps to warp while in the corona of a star. This intentionally created an artificial solar flare, destroying two ships that were pursuing that ship.

[@davidgraham2673]

I always liked that scene too.

[@karldavis7392]

@@davidgraham2673 I can't find it online.

[@davidgraham2673]

@@karldavis7392 , I tried too. No luck.

[@Sjalabais]

"How will it all end? [Lists ways for humanity to die] *Explore the possibilities*" This is the most cheerful twist on an impending apocalypse TED has ever delivered.

[@nes8666]

This could've been a very precise lore explanation to The Long Dark

[@Kevan808]

If we get hit by a major storm, and aren't prepared, we'd be living like the 1800s again.

[@21quynhnhunguyenthi65]

Another fun thing to learn from Ted .

[@wandamaddox7824]

4:45 -- you're welcome

[@youngmasterzhi]

Seymour, the house is on fire!

[@oharatakahiro5556]

Amazing .

[@DJMarkCorneliusThaDon]

It was easy listening to the narriator. Good choice for a voice over.

[@rvind000]

If in case it does happen, wonder how Twitter'll react.🌞

[@aditisk99]

How? The phones would probably not work.

[@wakeupsajid9439]

@@aditisk99 It's a joke🙄

[@dextersakupwanya7878]

Ted-Ed need an Award

[@gailaltschwager7377]

Wow! Thank you!

[@frankroto]

Great video, though you might like to fix the graphic at 3:20 that shows a typist with microphone and earphones using what is most definitely not an 1859-era telegraph. Should show a single key telegraph using Morse code.

[@RhaineTertainment13]

Great render

[@briantaylor9285]

Sun: "Haha I am EMP weapon lol" 😁

[@StarBoundFables]

I'm interested in adding this concept into the SciFi stories that I write 😃 It'll be incorporated into an alien civilization that humans encounter & how we're able to help them recover from a CME 📖 Thank you for sharing this info with us all 🙏🏽

[@regularfather4708]

Fellow writer here. One might also weaponize a CME to destroy an alien enemy without destroying the real estate.

[@Shinzon23]

If you're an author...I have a idea for you. Figure out a way to work something like a gryphon into story and explain why it's there and how it works.

[@aaliyahcarrington998]

It feels pretty nice to have a last name that is also the name of an even that occured.

[@indianintuitiontarot]

Nice info

[@NathanaelW]

A really interesting video, but thewobbely text is very difficult for dyslexic people to read. For a dyslexic person, normal still text can appear to wobble and move arround the scree/page when being read anyway, which is quite disconcerting. But having text that already does that in the first place makes it much worse and inaccessible for dyslexic people.

[@wintersilence]

There's a sci-fi series called Earth Girl where a Carrington event happens again, this time taking out almost all technology across the planet. If you're interested I highly recommend those books.

[@sachinkhadka7847]

interesting video.

[@BDNeon]

If you folks are interested, there's an incredibly immersive survival video game called "The Long Dark", that is set during a massive global geomagnetic storm that completely wipes out the power in a remote part of canada, where you have to survive the harsh cold. It's a hauntingly beautiful experience.

[@memeanshi]

good vid

[@thecount1374]

As crazy as this. I'm surprised no one had made a movie out of this.

[@hijisfriend9030]

there are a few of them

[@void8421]

Space is so interesting!

[@generalnawaki]

anyone else hear the story earlier this year about the Sun "waking up"? how the calm days of it are behind us for the time being?

[@aemrt5745]

The Sun goes thru roughly 11 year cycles. We are leaving a lull period and entering an active period. In a few years the activity will decline again. This is nothing new.

[@generalnawaki]

@@aemrt5745 until a solar storm flares up and wiped out all unshielded electronics.

[@aemrt5745]

@@generalnawaki It could happen today, or a thousand years from now. High impact low chance natural event. There are plenty others in nature; Cascadia Fault, Yellowstone Volcano, killer asteroid, next ice age, etc. I cannot do anything about these events. I am more likely to die in a car crash, so I am not going to lose sleep over it.

[@aemrt5745]

@@generalnawaki ...and solar cycles are routine and nothing new. Been thru five in my life.

[@sherlock1854]

The fact has snatched my sleep away for tonight.......

[@kuitaranheatmorus9932]

I love it

[@1CProgrammer]

another reason to learn physics.

[@Sean-sh6om]

So had there been a solar storm in 2014 or are we overdue for a massive solar storm for 8 years now?

[@EdwinWiles]

CME occur about 3 times a day during solar maximum. And about every 5 days during solar minimum. But the Earth occupies a very small area that a CME has to hit to seriously affect us. Think of the Earth as a gnat flying around an enraged gunman who can't see or hear us. He's got limited ammo and does not know our "orbit," so he must fire in all directions. What are the odds he'll hit the gnat? According to one study, in the ten years covered by 2012 to 2022, there was a 12% chance of a Carrington class CME hitting Earth.

[@aemrt5745]

It is all a probability game. Hopefully we get lucky and nothing happens.

[@cyrilmathew4136]

0:57 - Not sure if Earth's magnetic field is caused by molten metals circulating in the Earth's outer core. This hypothesis is still a matter of research and debate. There are other alternate hypotheses too which try to explain geomagnetism. So I'm not sure if one should be talking about the cause of the Earth's magnetic field as if it is an established fact.

[@gnanay8555]

car you elaborate on the alternatives ? :O

[@gnanay8555]

@@taobaoexpert123 oh. ^^'

[@cyrilmathew4136]

@@taobaoexpert123 Please inform me why you're so sure about this. It would be helpful if you can cite your sources. Thanks.

[@cyrilmathew4136]

@@gnanay8555 Other scientists have hypothesized that ocean currents and/or atmospheric currents in the ionosphere could contribute if not cause geomagnetism. I don't know how correct these alternative hypotheses are but I do know that there are some issues with the dynamo theory. Simulation of numerical models based on the dynamo theory have not been able to fully explain observed phenomena like for example the magnetic pole reversal which has happened many times in the Earth's history.

[@むむむ-z3q]

初めてこんな早く見た

[@kasondaleigh]

Interesting.

[@endofall18]

And to think that I just read an article today about a solar storm that happened on Sunday: “The CME related to Sunday's eruption will reach Earth at about 10 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) on Wednesday (April 6) and will likely trigger only a mild geomagnetic storm, level G1 or G2 on a five-point scale, Met Office said. Space weather forecasters don't know yet whether the CME produced by the Monday eruption will hit the planet, the Met Office added.”

[@tinytim2263]

It's weird they are showing this because they say that a solar storm is about to hit earth today.

[@LaKoketaApp]

Ted Ed is so interesting how are they so smart

[@Taylorac1111]

Was that Al Croaker doing the weather broadcast?

[@gregleavitt1255]

Wondering what a G5 event does to EV's but I guess we'll find out when that time comes ⏳

[@1.4142]

There is a G3 storm happening right now. You can see aurora on webcams in scandinavia and Canada.

[@wisdomfromthecave]

make sure TikTok is first to go, please. Thank you.

[@catguy5425]

Hmmm... Neat!

[@Section5_CdnIntelService]

I recall that blackout. We were told it was caused by equipment failure in one of the US states like Michigan or Ohio. Definitely never said anything about solar activity.

[@h.dejong2531]

The direct cause was equipment failure, it took a bit longer to figure out what the underlying cause was.

[@StonedAF101]

Well the G5 we had this weekend didnt shut off any power so we're good.

[@akshayarohatgi6230]

When this video starts buffering while you’re watching- *hol’ up*

[@PrincessTwilightdash]

yeah ii keep seeing os much CME this year is the sun more active this time of year now?

[@friendlyvimana]

After reading the title EMOTIONAL DAMAGE

[@randomobserver8168]

Well, fingers crossed.

[@joshuahamilton4259]

Thanks Demon of Reason!

[@guardianoftheduat]

I have no idea why ppl think this would end civilization

[@cscottausti]

A great reason not to buy an electric car- Im sold- thanks for the info!!

[@nirmitmittal4751]

This is both beautiful and terrifying

[@user-up9yk4vi1s]

Be careful when fighting against the sun guys don't "BM" the sun he might use the lag switch to win

[@emmanuelweinman9673]

Sadly, it usually takes a disaster for people to prepare properly next time… When monetary profit outweighs protecting the species, it’s hard to get the funding for massive backup projects.

[@euneadventure3112]

I sure hope it does!

[@easyenglishwithdaisy]

Hello everyone. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️