Northern lights have a dark side, NASA scientists warn after finding ground-level damage every time the apparitions appear

NASA scientists have warned of a hidden dark side to the dazzling Northern Lights.

The visual phenomena, also called the Aurora Borealis, can cause long-term damage to critical infrastructure at ground level.

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Aurora’s impact on Earth’s electrical grid and satellites during major geomagnetic storms has long been documented.

But NASA scientists have now discovered that electrical currents associated with geomagnetic storms can damage natural gas pipelines and submarine cables.

Writing in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, NASA scientists have warned that the Northern Lights are quietly reducing the lifespan of pipelines that supply heat and electricity to homes globally.

Auroras can damage any form of infrastructure that conducts electricity on Earth, according to new research.

While more powerful shocks mean more powerful currents and vivid auroras, frequent, less powerful shocks can also cause damage.

“Auroras and geomagnetically induced currents are caused by similar space weather triggers,” explained Dr Denny Oliveira of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, lead author of the paper.

“The aurora is a visual warning that electric currents in space can generate these induced geomagnetic currents on Earth.”

The risk of damage to basic infrastructure increases during severe geomagnetic storms.

The most recent strong geomagnetic storm occurred in May 2024, when we saw a drastic increase in Northern Lights sightings in areas that don’t normally see them.

Scientists called it the worst storm of the past two decades.

“Arguably, the most intense damaging effects on power infrastructure occurred in March 1989 after a severe geomagnetic storm – the Hydro-Quebec system in Canada was shut down for nearly nine hours, leaving millions of people without electricity,” added Oliveira.

“But weaker and more frequent events, such as interplanetary impacts, may pose a threat to ground-based transmitters over time.

“Our work shows that significant geoelectric currents occur quite often after shocks, and they deserve attention.”

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PREDICTION WHEN IT HAPPENS

Head-on interplanetary impacts produce stronger geomagnetic currents than angled impacts, the scientists explained.

The team thinks they can predict the angles of these impacts up to two hours before they hit Earth.

This would give power grids a head start on protecting vulnerable infrastructure before the worst shocks hit.

One thing that power infrastructure operators can do to protect their equipment is to manage certain electrical circuits when a shock alarm is issued.

Dr Denny Oliveira of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

“One thing power infrastructure operators can do to protect their equipment is to manage some specific electrical circuits when a shock alarm is issued,” Oliveira continued.

“This would prevent induced geomagnetic currents that reduce the lifetime of the device.”

The NASA team has asked energy companies to make their data available for scientists to study.

They said that the data they currently have is not enough.

“Current data has only been collected at one specific location, namely the Mäntsälä natural gas pipeline system [in Finland]”, warned Oliveira.

“Although Mäntsälä is in a critical location, it does not offer a worldwide view.

“In addition, the Mäntsälä data are missing several days in the investigated period, which forced us to discard many events in our companion database.

“It would be great if energy companies around the world made their data available to scientists for study.”