South China Morning Post
Advertisement
Advertisement
Space
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
An image taken by Nasa in January 2012 shows a solar flare erupting on the sun’s northeastern hemisphere. Physicist Doug Biesecker said the biggest concern from the speedy eruption was the radiation, which arrived on Earth an hour later. Photo: AP
OpinionLetters

Letters | Why Hong Kong should not take its eyes off the sun

  • Power and communications networks could be wiped out in an extreme event, unless we start paying attention to changes in solar and space weather
Space
Letters
Letters
Why you can trust SCMP

In the Chinese sci-fi blockbuster   Wandering Earth, mankind has to escape as the dying sun prepares to engulf the Earth. While the sun is unlikely to die any time soon, it is essential for the global community to pay more attention to solar weather and be prepared for the disastrous effects of extreme space weather events.

Space scientists have for years studied and monitored solar activities such as solar flares, coronal mass ejections and solar wind. During coronal mass ejections, the sun ejects enormous amounts of magnetised plasma, which is often associated with solar flares – sudden bursts of electromagnetic radiation and high-energy particles. Such solar events could significantly disturb the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, jamming the signals of communication and navigation systems, disrupting the operations of electricity transmission networks and causing widespread blackouts.

In July 2012, an unusually large and strong coronal mass ejection occurred but fortunately missed the Earth by nine days. Had the solar storm hit the Earth directly, the estimated economic loss for the United States alone would have been US$0.6-2.6 trillion.
The northern lights appear green and red over Foys Lake, Montana, in a 30-second timed exposure in 2003. The aurora borealis was visible across the entire United States after one of the largest solar flare eruptions in years. The streak of light in the sky is a jet coming in low for a landing. Photo: AP
In response to our inquiry, the Hong Kong Observatory said that it collects space weather information from the National Centre for Space Weather in China and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the US. The Observatory also provides space weather advisory information to flight operators through its Airport Meteorological Office.

Nevertheless, there is no protocol in place for the Observatory to alert the Hong Kong government in case of extreme space weather events that might threaten the city’s power and communications infrastructure.

Universe map charts 300,000 new galaxies, could unlock black hole secrets

Professor Lucie Green, a UK-based solar researcher, has called for more effort in business continuity planning to evaluate the global impact of space weather risk and assess the resilience of world financial markets. We urge the Hong Kong government to invest more resources in the study of space weather to protect the finance and other business sectors of the city.

Cheng Ding and Simon Wang, Kowloon Tong

Post