Auroras have a dark side, NASA scientists warn, as they reveal ground-level damage every time they’re imaged

NASA scientists have warned of a hidden dark side to the dazzling aurora borealis.

The visual phenomena, also called the Aurora Borealis, can cause long-term damage to critical ground-level infrastructure.

Aurora’s impact on Earth’s electrical grid and satellites during major geomagnetic storms has long been documented.

But NASA scientists have now revealed that electrical currents associated with geomagnetic storms can damage gas pipelines and submarine cables.

In their Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences paper, NASA scientists warned that the Northern Lights are quietly shortening the life of pipes that supply heating and electricity to homes around the world.

Auroras can damage any form of infrastructure that conducts electricity to Earth, according to a new research paper.

While stronger tremors mean stronger currents and vivid auroras, frequent and less severe tremors can also cause damage.

“Auroras and geomagnetically induced currents are caused by similar space weather drivers,” explained Dr. Denny Oliveira of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, lead author of the paper.

“The aurora borealis is a visual warning that suggests that electrical currents in space can generate these geomagnetically induced currents on earth.”

The risk of damage to basic infrastructure is increased during severe geomagnetic storms.

The last strong geomagnetic storm occurred in May 2024, when we saw a drastic increase in aurora sightings in areas we don’t usually see them.

Scientists called it the fiercest storm in two decades.

“Probably the most intense damaging effects on energy infrastructure occurred in March 1989 after a severe geomagnetic storm – the Hydro-Quebec system in Canada was shut down for nearly nine hours, leaving millions without electricity,” added Oliveira.

“But weaker and more frequent events, such as interplanetary tremors, can pose a threat to ground conductors over time.

“Our work shows that significant geoelectric currents occur quite frequently after earthquakes and deserve attention.”

ANTICIPATING WHEN THEY INTERFERE

Frontal interplanetary shocks produce stronger geomagnetic currents than angular shocks, the researchers explained.

The team expects to be able to predict the angles of these shocks up to two hours before they hit Earth.

This would give power grids a head start on protecting vulnerable infrastructure before the worst shocks hit.

One thing power infrastructure operators could do to protect their facilities is to manage a few specific electrical circuits when a shock warning is issued

Dr. Denny Oliveira of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

“One thing that energy infrastructure operators could do to protect their facilities is to control a few specific electrical circuits when a shock warning is issued,” Oliveira continued.

“This would prevent geomagnetically induced currents from shortening the lifetime of the device.”

The NASA team called on energy companies to make their data available for scientists to study.

They said the data they currently have is not enough.

“Current data was collected only at a specific location, namely the Mäntsälä gas pipeline system [in Finland]” warned Oliveira.

“Although Mäntsälä is in a critical location, it does not provide a global picture.

“Furthermore, the Mäntsälä data is missing several days in the period under study, which forced us to discard many events from our shock database.

“It would be nice if global energy companies made their data available for scientists to study.”