Blackout causing, satellite disabling super solar storms far greater risk than previously thought

The chance of our planet being hit a super solar storm could be greater than we thought, according to a new international study led by Chinese astronomers.

The researchers investigated two major geomagnetic storms this year and found they were likely "siblings" of the largest solar storm recorded in history.

On July 23, 2012, the sun produced a series of coronal mass ejections, the most powerful variety of solar flares, unprecedented in scale and intensity.

Fortunately for us, the flares missed the earth by an incredibly slim margin, saving the planet from the worst blackout in the modern era, with electric grids burned out, satellites disabled and the failure of the majority of consumer gadgets, from car GPS to smartphones.

Such a disaster could cripple infrastructure worldwide and cause trillions of US dollars in damages to the global economy.

Despite the near miss, scientists said there was no reason for panic, as super solar storms were believed to be rare events.

A research team of astronomers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of California Berkeley found that a number of conditions must be met "perfectly" for a super storm of the level of the 2012 event to form.