Space weather, first studied in the 1950s, has grown in importance with recent technological advances. Space weather affects the satellites of the Global Positioning System, causing serious navigation problems. Space weather can also produce damaging surges in transmission lines, knocking out power; play havoc with aircraft avionics; and disrupt telecommunication networks. The Space Weather Office of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the US National Space Weather Program provide forecasts of solar conditions and warnings of anomalous events. An interesting article in Weather magazine by Mila Zinkova suggests the cause may have been space weather.

Source: The Irish Times April 01, 2021 00:00 UTC