La più potente tempesta solare degli ultimi 150 anni ha mancato di poco la Terra il 23 luglio del 2012. Il fenomeno costituiva una minaccia per tutti i circuiti elettrici, internet, i trasporti, le telecomunicazioni. Insomma, per tutto quanto funziona grazie alla corrente. Avrebbe potuto rispedire la civiltà contemporanea indietro nel tempo fino al 18mo secolo, stando a quanto scrive la NASA in un comunicato diffuso giovedì sul suo sito internet.
Se l'eruzione alla superficie della stella avesse avuto luogo una settimana prima, il nostro pianeta "si sarebbe trovato in prima linea", ha spiegato Daniel Baker dell'Università del Colorado. I costi per l'economia mondiale avrebbero raggiunto i 2'000 miliardi di dollari.
Il fisico Pat Riley, che ha pubblicato un articolo sull'argomento, il rischio che uno di questi temporali geomagnetici (anche se di minore intensità) possa colpire la Terra nei prossimi anni è del 12%.
pon/ATS
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