How Do Solar Flares Affect the Earth?

The sun stands at the center of the earth's solar system, emitting life force energy for use by the earth's population of humans and animals. While the planets maintain their singular identity, the sun can only be compared to other stars throughout the universe that are bundles of active gases and energies. As all planets maintain individual weather patterns depending on atmosphere, the earth's closest star, the sun, has its own weather patterns that can affect all planets, including earth, in some rather negative ways.

The sun is comprised of different layers of activity that produce reactions deep within and on its outer surface. The corona is the surface layer that emits into space all the power and energy created from the natural reaction fission that causes the sun to maintain its stable state as a star. When weather deteriorates on the sun, it can cause a number of different solar situations that affect the earth. Of these solar storms, the most damaging are known as solar flares.

Solar flares are explosions of energy and magnetic force that typically develop around massive storms on the sun's surface that are called sun spots. A sun spot is a disruption on the surface of the sun that is similar to a massive storm on earth, except the size of these storms and their causes have yet to be fully understood.

What scientists do understand is the effect solar flares can have on earth. Under the right situations, when the earth and sun face each other during a solar flare event, earth can be battered by massive bursts of energy via wavelength X-rays, gamma rays and magnetic disturbances, which can alter the earth's ability to protect itself from dangerous particles emitted into space.

Solar flares can affect shortwave radio communication on earth when the energy from a solar storm emits a flare. Flares shoot enormous amounts of energy into space traveling at amazing speed, and it extends into the farthest reaches of the solar system. The natural defenses of the earth protect its inhabitants from solar flares. Man-made technologies actually have more negative effects on the earth and the atmosphere than flares do.

Earth's satellites can have orbits altered by the massive energy pulses of a solar flare. Atmospheres are affected by these energy flares as well. The introduction of short-wave and long-wave gamma and X-rays that are the product of solar flares can ionize the components of a planet's atmosphere leaving it less able to maintain an even enclosure around the planet in question. For earth, the atmosphere that wraps the planet is in a constant state defense against forces from within and out. Powerful solar flares can generate huge holes in the ionosphere, which can negatively affect people and equipment on earth.

Scientists continue to research the affects of solar flares on earth. What we know now about how a Solar Flare affects Earth, is that we need to know more.

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