Earth engulfed by a solar storm that could disrupt GPS & power grid

By NewsGram Staff Writer

A huge solar storm that could disrupt the power grid and GPS, as well as result in making beautiful auroras visible to people has been reportedly found to be engulfing the earth.

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), what was most likely a blast of magnetic plasma, shot out of the sun on Sunday, traveling faster than usual, bringing with it the biggest solar storm, perhaps since March.

Scott Kelly, an American astronaut who is currently on the International Space Station tweeted about the auroras.

I've never seen this before- red #aurora. Spectacular! #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/j2DVejt974

— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) June 22, 2015

Day 87. The red curtain of an #aurora closes on another day. Good night from @space_station! #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/NUyJkGKy9y — Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) June 22, 2015

Yesterday's #aurora was an impressive show from 250 miles up. Good morning from @space_station! #YearInSpace https://t.co/wZJOxrD0EQ

— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) June 23, 2015

Occurrence of solar storms is caused when the sun shoots out a big burst of gas and magnetic fields. They then travel through the solar system and hit Earth.

They can cause huge disruption when they hit the Earth, but their force and effects vary. What also varies is the ability of different parts of the world to deal with these disruptions, based on their geographical set up and other factors like insulation from disasters.

As reported by a UK based website, the storm arrived on Monday afternoon and was likely to last up to a day or even longer.