Solar Superstorm Reveals New Dynamics in Earth's Radiation Belts

2:04 PM ETDeveloping

Science Desk

In Short: A solar superstorm in May 2024 dramatically altered Earth's outer Van Allen radiation belt, challenging existing models of electron transport.

Tracking a Superstorm (8971448230) — Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Researchers in the United States said a solar superstorm on Nov. 11, 2025, caused coast-to-coast disruption across the United States, knocking GPS accuracy off by as much as 10 meters and interrupting satellite communications.

Satellite observations revealed that during the storm, Earth’s outer Van Allen radiation belt underwent a sudden, dramatic loss of highly energetic electrons, according to reports.

Standard models of electron transport commonly used in space weather forecasting do not accurately capture the tightly coupled timing of superstorm dynamics and electron transport processes revealed in this study.

The May 2024 superstorm presented a rare opportunity to study the rapid electron transport in the radiation belts during particularly extreme storms, leading to new insights and challenges for existing models.

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The study said direct health risks to people are minimal, though airplane passengers flying near the ionosphere may be exposed to bursts of radiation equivalent to several X-ray scans.
This “superstorm” filled night skies in many parts of the world with colorful aurorae, and it disrupted some infrastructure, such as GPS signals used by agricultural equipment.
The Van Allen radiation belts are donut-shaped rings that encircle our planet and harbor energetic electrons and protons—mostly from the solar wind —trapped by Earth’s magnetosphere.
The researchers analyzed data from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Arase satellite, quantifying the dramatic depletion of electrons from the outer radiation belt during the superstorm.
To explore the physical processes behind the rapid loss, they simulated the event using the Versatile Electron Radiation Belt (VERB) model, which is designed to reproduce radiation belt dynamics.
WASHINGTON — Earth cooked to its hottest month on record in August, blowing far past a key climate threshold, due to the dangerous double whammy of human-caused climate change and a supersized El Nino, according to the European climate service Copernicus.
The eight hottest months on record have all been from July 2023 on, according to Copernicus data.

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