Can a solar storm damage underground cables and destroy the internet on Earth? Google let us know
Google researchers studied the damage a powerful solar storm on Earth could do to underground cables that provide high-speed internet access across continents.
The year 2023 is horrifying for some astronomers and scientists who specialize in the study of the Sun. The upcoming year will mark the peak of Solar Cycle 25, known as the Solar maximum, which will cause many sunspots to appear on the Sun, which will explode and send coronal mass eruptions (CMEs). ) to Earth. And this will lead to periods of intense solar storms. While we all know about the dangers of solar storms, one fear is particularly frightening that it could destroy the internet globally. And will lead to not only financial and technological damage but also countless deaths. Read on for more details.
One research by Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi, an Indian scholar and assistant professor at the University of California, reveals the horrifying possibility. According to her, submarine cables that stretch across the ocean floor and link continents are equipped with a device called a repeater every 100-150 km apart. The repeater boosts the signal by repeating the incoming waves so that the connection is not weak. These repeaters are vulnerable to solar storms, and they can eliminate them. If even one repeater goes down, the entire global network will be shut down immediately.
Google researchers find reassuring answer
Recently, researchers at Google have delved into this issue. Google funds, in whole or in part, 22 underground cables around the world and is a major stakeholder in internet affairs. In a recent time blog postGoogle revealed it was studying the possibility of a solar storm damaging undersea cables and disrupting internet connections around the globe.
It turns out that there are special devices built into these cables that help protect them from such solar storms. And here’s how it happened:
“On both sides of the ocean, a landing station houses the lasers as well as backup high-voltage power supply (PFE) equipment to power multiple repeaters along the way. Earth’s ground completes the electrical circuit. For redundancy, the two PFEs maintain the design voltage between them. If one of the PFEs fails, the other PFE is designed to double its voltage, so the overall voltage across the cable remains the same,” says Google.
For comparison, the strongest solar storm on record, the Carrington event of 1859, increased the rated voltage to 800 Volts. Meanwhile, these underground cables are designed to absorb fluctuations as high as 6000 Volts.
