
-
Kenya's economy faces climate change risks: World Bank
-
Stellantis pausing some Canada, Mexico production over Trump auto tariffs
-
Rising odds asteroid that briefly threatened Earth will hit Moon
-
Is the Switch 2 worth the price? Reviews are mixed
-
Countries eye trade talks as Trump tariff blitz roils markets
-
AI could impact 40 percent of jobs worldwide: UN
-
US trade partners eye talks after Trump tariff blitz
-
Dollar, stocks sink as gold hits high on Trump tariffs
-
Trump tariff blitz sparks retaliation threats, economic fears
-
Lessons and liquids: buried alive in Myanmar's earthquake
-
Nintendo Switch 2 sparks excitement despite high price
-
Sri Lanka's crackdown on dogs for India PM's visit sparks protest
-
China vows 'countermeasures' to sweeping new US tariffs
-
Trump jolts allies, foes and markets with tariff blitz
-
How Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs will impact China
-
Europe hits out at Trump tariffs, keeps door open for talks
-
Australia sweats through hottest 12 months on record: official data
-
South African artist champions hyenas in 'eco-queer' quest
-
Taiwan says US tariffs 'highly unreasonable'
-
Trump escalates trade war with sweeping global tariffs
-
China says opposes new US tariffs, vows 'countermeasures'
-
Quake-hit Myanmar's junta chief to head to Bangkok summit
-
New Spielberg, Nolan films teased at CinemaCon
-
Shiny and deadly, unexploded munitions a threat to Gaza children
-
Stocks tank, havens rally as Trump tariffs fan trade war
-
Financial markets tumble after Trump tariff announcement
-
Europe riled, but plans cool-headed response to Trump's tariffs
-
'Shenmue' voted most influential video game ever in UK poll
-
Revealed: Why monkeys are better at yodelling than humans
-
Key details on Trump's market-shaking tariffs
-
US business groups voice dismay at Trump's new tariffs
-
Trump sparks trade war with sweeping global tariffs
-
US stocks end up, but volatility ahead after latest Trump tariffs
-
Boeing chief reports progress to Senate panel after 'serious missteps'
-
Is Musk's political career descending to Earth?
-
On Mexico-US border, Trump's 'Liberation Day' brings fears for future
-
Tesla sales slump as pressure piles on Musk
-
Amazon makes last-minute bid for TikTok: report
-
Tesla first quarter sales sink amid anger over Musk politics
-
World's tiniest pacemaker is smaller than grain of rice
-
Nintendo says Switch 2 console to be launched on June 5
-
Certain foreign firms must 'self-certify' with Trump diversity rules: US embassies
-
Nigerian president sacks board of state oil company
-
Heathrow 'warned about power supply' days before shutdown
-
Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre 'stable' after car crash
-
Swedish insurer drops $160 mn Tesla stake over labour rights
-
Stock markets mixed as uncertainty rules ahead of Trump tariffs
-
Warner showcases 'Superman' reboot, new DiCaprio film
-
Asian markets edge up but uncertainty rules ahead of Trump tariffs
-
UK imposes online entry permit on European visitors

US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
A massive ball of plasma and accompanying magnetic field ejected from the Sun is expected to strike Earth on Thursday morning, potentially triggering auroras as far south as Alabama, according to US forecasters.
It comes as the Sun approaches -- or is possibly at -- the peak of its 11-year cycle, when activity is heightened.
In May, the planet experienced its most powerful geomagnetic storms in two decades, producing colorful displays across night skies far from the poles.
"The current anticipation is that it is going to arrive tomorrow morning to midday, Eastern time, and perhaps continue on into the following day," Shawn Dahl of the Space Weather Prediction Center told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday.
As the coronal mass ejection (CME) travels through space at 2.5 million miles (four million kilometers) an hour, the agency has put in place a level 4 geomagnetic storm watch (G4).
That is one level below the highest possible G5, seen in May -- but the final outcome could be either below or above G4.
Better predictions aren't possible until around 15-30 minutes before impact, when it crosses tracking satellites, a million miles from Earth.
Dahl said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), already under pressure as it deals with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the approaching Hurricane Milton, had been informed, as have companies operating the North American power grid, so they can take mitigation steps if necessary.
When CMEs slam into Earth's magnetosphere, they can create geomagnetic storms.
The storms can disrupt satellites orbiting Earth and affect things like radio signals and GPS positioning systems.
They can also knock out electricity grids -- the "Halloween Storms" of October 2003 sparked blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa.
May's storms disrupted precision GPS systems used by US farmers across the Midwest and caused some high-voltage transformers to trip, without large-scale disruption to the grid, said Dahl.
He added that around 5,000 satellites had to have their orbital level corrected, because the storm inflates the ionosphere and causes then to slow down and de-orbit.
For those living in the right latitudes -- potentially as far south as northern California or Alabama in the United States -- auroras would be most visible away from city lights, in the darkest skies possible, experts say.
People should use their cameras or phones to look, because today's digital imagery can often pick them up even when the naked eye cannot.
L.Peeters--CPN