A rare G4-level geomagnetic storm alert has been issued for Earth following a violent solar eruption on May 31. The coronal mass ejection (CME) hurtled toward the planet, triggered by a powerful Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun’s corona. According to U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) instruments, this cosmic blast has the potential to disrupt satellites, communications, and military systems.
A geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere caused by high-speed solar wind and a southward-directed magnetic field. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center classified the recent solar storm as G4, the second-highest classification on its five-level scale. This level of storm can cause significant disruptions to critical systems, including satellite communications, GPS navigation, and remote sensing systems.
“The repercussions can range from temporary outages and data corruption to permanent damage to satellites,” said Karl Battams, Ph.D., computational scientist for NRL’s Heliospheric Science Division. “Such disturbances can compromise situational awareness, hinder command and control, affect precision-guided systems, and even impact the electrical power grid.”
The May 30 event saw a relatively slow but powerful solar flare erupt from the Earth-facing side of the Sun, leading to the geomagnetic storm that has produced auroras as far south as New Mexico. NRL’s space-based instrumentation provided vital real-time observations of this event, including data from NASA and NOAA spacecraft.
These instruments, such as the Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) and Compact Coronagraph 1 (CCOR-1), relay critical data that are paramount for operational space weather monitoring. The data collected from events like this will be instrumental in future research, further enhancing our understanding and predictive capabilities and ultimately bolstering national security and critical infrastructure.
The potential impacts of severe geomagnetic storms on the Department of Defense and other agencies are significant and far-reaching. As such warnings become more common, it is essential for the public and critical infrastructure operators to visit NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center for the latest information and updates.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/06/250610074256.htm