Tengrinews.kz - There are rumors on the Internet that in 2025, due to the strongest magnetic storms caused by solar flares, the world may be left without the Internet and even without electricity. Social media users are scared of global failures and complete chaos. But is it true?
Rumors of possible global communications and power outages in 2025 are gaining popularity on TikTok. The authors of the video claim that solar storms, which will supposedly peak next year, could disable satellites, disrupt servers, and even leave us without electricity.
According to the staff of the Institute of the Ionosphere, such assumptions are simply unrealistic. The main reason is that it is not possible to determine solar flares so far in advance.
"It is impossible to accurately predict super-powerful events on the Sun in advance. You can make an accurate forecast for several hours and an approximate forecast for several days, but not further. Therefore, it is impossible to predict such an event a year in advance. And this means that the forecast about the ‘disconnection’ of the Internet in 2025 is a fake," explained Olga Nikolaevna Kryakunova, a leading researcher at the laboratory of diagnostics and forecasting of space weather at the Institute of Ionosphere.
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However, according to Kazakh astrophysicist Viktor Teifel, solar flares can indeed have an impact on our planet, but the scale of this impact is limited. When the Sun experiences powerful energy emissions, charged particles and electromagnetic waves reach the Earth, interacting with its magnetic field. This can lead to temporary disruptions in the operation of satellites, radio communications, and GPS.
But, as the expert notes, the impact of solar activity on terrestrial infrastructure, such as power grids or the Internet, is minimal. These processes can affect certain technologies, but most often they are local and short-term.
"Solar activity can have a small impact on electronics, but mainly on those located outside the Earth's atmosphere. For example, on satellites that orbit the Earth. They can indeed be affected by solar flows, the so-called stellar wind. But even such cases are recorded extremely rarely," the astrophysicist noted.
He also explained that radio communications used on Earth are largely protected by the ionosphere, a layer of the atmosphere that reflects radio waves.
"When the Sun affects the ionosphere, the concentration of charged particles or the height of their layer may change slightly, which sometimes affects short-wave radio communications. But these are minor fluctuations that rarely lead to serious disruptions," Teifel is sure.
According to him, in 2025, solar activity will most likely begin to decline. However, even if it increases, serious consequences should not be expected, since the Earth is protected by the ionosphere (a layer of the atmosphere).
"Even with increased solar activity, nothing critical will happen. The only impact it can have is on the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field, and that is within acceptable limits. The Earth is protected by its magnetic field and radiation belts, which consist of charged particles. These belts serve as a reliable shield, protecting us from direct flows of solar protons, electrons and other charged particles," the astrophysicist explained.
The scientist also emphasized that over the past few years, solar activity has not had a noticeable impact on people's daily lives. The Earth and its ecosystem have long adapted to changes associated with solar cycles, so serious consequences should not be expected.
"We have been studying processes on the Sun for over 200 years, and the Sun itself has existed for over 4.5 billion years. During this time, a huge number of solar activity cycles have passed. Over the last two centuries alone, more than 20 11-year cycles have changed. The Earth and its ecosystem have long been accustomed to these changes, and small fluctuations in the magnetic field do not have a significant impact," said Viktor Teifel.
