2023-10-18 19:09:44
It’s not just human instruments that record. Nature does it too, but differently. In the rings of its trees, for example. And some of them today seem to reveal that the Earth suffered an extraordinary solar storm 14,300 years ago!
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[EN VIDÉO] Sun activity revealed by tree rings What happens inside our Sun can only be observed indirectly. And…
In 1859, what astronomers call the Carrington event occurred. The largest solar storm ever recorded. “Registered”, implied by instruments developed by humans. But nature too ” checked in “. Even if she does it in a different way. Thus, work published by an international team of researchers in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences show that in the French Alps, trees recorded a much larger solar storm than the one that caused the Carrington event.
By analyzing the rings of subfossil trees – understand that the process of fossilizationfossilization has not come to an end here – incredibly well preserved on the banks of the Drouzet, near GapGap, the researchers – including the Collège de France , the European Center for Research and Teaching in Environmental Geosciences, the Mediterranean Institute of Biodiversitybiodiversity and Marine and Continental Ecology of the University of Aix-Marseille University — have indeed updated a peak of radiocarbon — the famous carboncarbon -14 — dating back 14,300 years. And that deserves some explanation.
Solar storms recorded in tree rings
You should first know that by hitting the top of our atmosphereatmosphere, cosmic rays constantly produce radiocarbon. A radiocarbon which, like any other carbon, is ultimately consumed by trees and other plants. But recently, scientists discovered that solar flares and coronal mass ejections can cause explosions of particles in our atmosphere which result in significant production of radiocarbon. Some pics.
This is after comparing their radiocarbon peak with measurements of beryllium-10 found in ice coresice cores from Greenland — an isotopeisotope first similarly produced — which researchers have proposed may have been caused by a massive solar storm that ejected enormous volumes of energetic particles into Earth’s atmosphere. A bit like these nine others that researchers had already identified over the last 15,000 years. The famous Miyake events, named in honor of the researcher from Nagoya University (Japan) who discovered the first. The two most recent occurred in AD 774 and AD 993. But researchers estimate that the one from 14,300 years ago must have been twice as powerful as those two. Understand, between 10 and 100 times more powerful than Carrington event type events!
A solar storm with a strong impact on our technological society
Basically, astronomers still don’t know how Miyake events occur. They don’t know what causes such extreme solar storms. Especially since none has yet been directly observed. And maybe that’s happy. Because the occurrence of such a solar storm could be catastrophic for our modern technological society. It could wipe out our telecommunications services, our satellite systems and our electricity grids. The resulting outages could last up to several months!
Solar storms of rare intensity have struck humanity several times. When’s the next one?
This is why researchers believe it is essential to continue studying the issue. Because there is still a lot to learn. And that better understanding the history of the Earth and the critical events it has faced is essential to, firstly, accurately predict what awaits us in the future and, secondly, find solutions to adaptation to risks.
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