Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The threat of an internet apocalypse has become one of the most discussed topics after University of California researcher Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi released a report entitled Solar Superstorms: Planning for an Internet Apocalypse. Can it be prevented?
The internet apocalypse is described when most of the internet connections on Earth are cut off for weeks or even months. This makes humans unable to connect globally even though the internet has become a daily human need.
The study revealed the potential for extreme solar storms and could make the internet cut off. Extreme solar storms can trigger geomagnetic storms or disturbances of the Earth’s magnetic field.
This can affect the underwater internet cables that connect between continents. The cable has a repeater that can boost the optical signal, and the distance is about 30-90 miles.
The first countries to be affected during a violent geomagnetic storm are high latitude countries such as the United States (US) and the United Kingdom.
“The economic impact of a day’s internet outage in the US is estimated at over US$7 billion. What if the network remains out of service for days or even months?” said Abdu Jyothi, quoted from Live Science, Tuesday (14/9/2021).
He suggested that network operators could lay more cables at lower latitudes because these areas are the least likely to be affected by extreme solar storms. In addition it develops robustness tests with a focus on large-scale network failures.
The good news is the chance of extreme solar storms is quite small, only 1.6% to 12% per decade. The recorded solar storms that affected Earth occurred in 1859 and 1921.
In an earlier event called the Carrington Incident, it caused severe geomagnetic disturbances on Earth and set the telegraph cable on fire. On a small scale, the March 1989 solar storm could also create internet disturbances. At that time the internet went out in all of Quebec Canada within nine hours.
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