In the “old” era, people were used to thinking that radio communication was not always perfect. AM radio has cracks and crackles. If you have to make a call with a wireless phone, you will think it is unreliable, even impossible at a specific time. Modern technology, satellites and many other things have changed. Now radios are usually super reliable and high fidelity. Usually, however, this week’s 7.9 magnitude solar flare reminds radio users in Africa and the Middle East that radios are not always able to pass through. At least one hour.
This happened around 10 a.m. GMT, when this part of the world was facing the sun. Obviously, the flare is accompanied by a coronal mass ejection, so there may be more electromagnetic interference.
The culprit seems to be an extremely active sunspot, which is expected to disappear soon. Interestingly, the sun also has a coronal hole, and the solar wind blows at a higher speed than usual. Want to know about the solar weather? There is a website.
We have pointed out before that, even in the power grid, we are not ready for technical power outage due to solar energy activities. The last time it happened, we didn’t rely too much on radio.