Solar activity is increasing quicker than most expected, with threats of an “internet apocalypse” looming because of possible blackouts. Throughout time, scientists have discovered the sun operates in 11-year cycles, with solar activity being at its most activity halfway through the cycle. Given the sun started its 25th cycle since tracking began in 2019, it was on pace to be its most active in 2025—only now, scientists think increasing sunspot activity could lead to a quicker peak.
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“Tracking and predicting the Sun’s solar cycles gives a rough idea of the frequency of space weather storms of all types – from radio blackouts to geomagnetic storms and solar radiation storms – and it’s used by many industries to gauge the potential impact of space weather on Earth,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains. Because of recent warnings by the NOAA and other similar bodies, an “internet apocalypse” has become a trending topic.
What is an internet apocalypse?
In theory, an internet apocalypse would take place when solar eruptions, for lack of a better word, take satellites offline. If a solar burst was strong enough to make that happen, it would also likely disrupt power around the world depending on strength and severity. When it comes to the most severe of geomagnetic storms, power grids could and satellites could be taken offline for several days.
The NOAA says that such an event could take weeks to repair, effectively disrupting most methods of communication including telephone, radio, and TV.
“We’re already seeing a lot more big sunspots,” University of Reading physics professor Mathew Owens told Business Insider. “There’s a few this last week or so that were visible to the naked eye,” he said, though he cautioned you shouldn’t look straight to the sun which can damage your eyes, and only see these through strong filters.
The worst solar storm on record impacted the planet in 1859, severely impacting telegraph lines. Given we’re nearly 200 years into the future, and much more technology can be impacted this time around.
“It was the smallest we’d had for about a hundred years,” Owens added, “The danger of going from a small cycle to a slightly bigger one is that you then realize where all the vulnerabilities are.”
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