---
title: "A Massive Solar Flare Just Knocked Out Radio Communications Back on Earth"
description: "Scientists encountered the biggest solar flare recorded since 2017, which was powerful enough to knock out radio communication on Earth."
date: "2023-12-15"
modified: "2023-12-15"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/solar-flare-radio-communications-earth"
categories:
  - "Energy"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Renewable Energy"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Solar Power"
tags:
  - "solar flares"
  - "space weather"
  - "Sun"
  - "the digest"
---

# A Massive Solar Flare Just Knocked Out Radio Communications Back on Earth

![Scientists encountered the biggest solar flare recorded since 2017, which was powerful enough to knock out radio communication on Earth.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/solar-flare-knocked-out-radio-communications-earth.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Flare Gun

The Sun is entering the most active part of its 11-year cycle, unleashing powerful solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and streams of energetic particles in every direction — including toward our own humble Earth. Just earlier this month, a [massive hole](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/gigantic-hole-sun>) opened up in the Sun's atmosphere, allowing copious amounts of solar wind to escape.

And on Thursday, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory encountered the biggest solar flare recorded since at least 2017, which was powerful enough to knock out radio communication here on Earth for two hours in parts of the US and other locations around the world, the [*Associated Press* reports](<https://phys.org/news/2023-12-biggest-solar-flare-years-temporarily.html>).

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's [Space Weather Prediction Center](<https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/strongest-solar-flare-solar-cycle-25>), it's "likely one of the largest solar radio events ever recorded."

## Knockout Punch

Scientists have long warned that powerful solar storms could wreak havoc with electric equipment on Earth. They can cause [train signals to go haywire](<https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-67681360>), [mess with entire power grids](<https://www.wsj.com/science/environment/solar-storm-early-warning-system-b6324524>), and [even kill satellites](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/geomagnetic-storm-spacex-satellites>) in Earth's orbit.

Earlier this year, professor of physics and astronomy at George Mason University Peter Becker went as far as saying that a particularly intense solar storm could [trigger an "internet apocalypse](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/professor-warns-sun-knock-out-internet>)," potentially plunging the globe into a "worldwide recession."

Scientists are predicting that the Sun will hit the apex of its 11-year cycle, or solar maximum, sometime in 2025, suggesting that we're in for many more solar flares like it in the near future.

**More on solar flares:** *[The Sun Just Blasted the Earth With an Enormous Solar Flare](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/sun-blasted-earth-solar-flare>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)