Sep 07, 2021 11:29:00

The possibility of an 'Internet apocalypse' that cuts off the Internet around the world due to a large-scale solar storm

People all over the world are connected to the Internet, which has become an integral part of modern life.

Mr. Abdu Jotei , a computer science researcher at the University of California, Irvine , has pointed out the possibility that 'Internet apocalypse ', which blocks the Internet due to the effects of solar storms , will occur in the near future, and is calling for countermeasures.

Solar Superstorms: Planning for an Internet Apocalypse
(PDF file) https://www.ics.uci.edu/~sabdujyo/papers/sigcomm21-cme.pdf

An'Internet apocalypse' could ride to Earth with the next solar storm, new research warns | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/solar-storm-internet-apocalypse

A solar storm is a phenomenon in which the solar wind emitted when a large-scale solar flare occurs in the sun reaches the earth, and severe geomagnetic fluctuations and radiation affect artificial satellites and electronic devices on the earth. That is. You can read more about solar flares and solar storms in the following articles.

What are the solar activities 'solar flares' and 'coronal mass ejections' that can have a great impact on the earth? --GIGAZINE

It is estimated that a solar storm of a scale that affects electronic devices on the earth will occur with a probability of 1.6 to 12% in 10 years. Several solar storms of this magnitude have been reported in the past, for example, in the large-scale solar storm '

Carrington Event ' in 1859, the telegram system went down and the telegraph tower sparked. , The phenomenon that the telegram paper spontaneously ignites was reported. In March 1989, a solar storm caused a nine-hour power outage throughout Quebec, Canada.

Optical fiber cables used for Internet connection in recent years are said to be less susceptible to geomagnetic fluctuations caused by solar storms. For this reason, Mr. Jotei speculates that it is unlikely that the Internet connection in the area connected by the fiber optic cable will be affected, but for the submarine cable laid on the seabed for data communication between continents, A repeater for optical signal amplification is installed, and this repeater is easily affected by geomagnetism. As a result, solar storms can disrupt repeaters and affect large areas of Internet connectivity, Jotei points out.

The map below shows the areas where large data centers are located, but you can see that the high latitude areas are more concentrated in the data centers than the low latitude areas. According to Jotei, high-latitude countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom are more susceptible to solar storms than low-latitude countries, in the event of a large-scale solar storm. , It seems that there is a high possibility that damage will occur frequently in high latitude areas where data centers are densely populated.

'Repairing submarine cables can take weeks or months,' said Jotei. 'The economic impact of Internet failures in the United States is estimated to be more than $ 7 billion a day. How much impact would it have if the Internet blockage lasted for days or months? ', Emphasizing the magnitude of the impact of a solar storm on the world.

'The pandemic of the new coronavirus has exposed humanity's lack of preparedness for the global crisis. The same is true for the Internet. Humans are prepared to block the Internet due to a solar storm. We haven't, 'he said, arguing that we need to take action against large-scale solar storms that may occur in the near future.