STORMY SPACE WEATHER               HARMFUL FOR POWER GRIDS                                   

Stormy space weather sweeping across the equator could threaten vital power grids in regions including India, which were long considered safe from such events.

A research found that these equatorial electrical disruptions threaten power grids in Southeast Asia, India, Africa and South America, where protecting infrastructure from space shocks has not been priority. 

Massive space weather events have crashed power grids across North America and Europe, but often with little warning , smaller events strike in equatorial regions more frequently than previously thought. Research shows that areas closer to equator experience disturbing effects on power grid infrastructure which has largely been overlooked. 

A historical data shows that we don't need huge geomagnetic storms to experience negative effects at the equator. One such geomagnetic storm event in 1989 left millions across North America without power for upto 12 hours. From such records we can conclude that that such episodes on small scales can cause fluctuations in wholesale electricity prices, as it can interfere with monitoring rates of supply and demand.

Some findings show that the effects of the geomagnetic storms are amplified by the equatorial electrojet, a natural occurring flow of electric current approximately 100km above the surface of the Earth. The electrojet travels above large parts of Africa, South America, Southeast Asia and the southern tip of India.

It is interesting to know that Earth's equatorial regions are largely unstudied and more susceptible to disruptive space weather then previously thought, which should prompt scientists to examine the infrastructure and economic implications on countries near the equator.

It is becoming clear that we need to investigate the effects of adverse space weather in a technology-dependent society where health and economic well being are reliant on dependable infrastrucure.