A groundbreaking study from University of California researchers highlights the severe risks a powerful geomagnetic storm poses to undersea cables that power the global internet. The findings are concerning.
Extreme solar storms, known as coronal mass ejections, have long been recognized for their ability to disrupt Earth's power grids, leading to widespread blackouts. The ripple effects would span global supply chains, transportation, and GPS systems.
However, the vulnerability of internet infrastructure—primarily a vast network of submarine fiber-optic cables—has received less attention. At the SIGCOMM 2021 Data Communication Conference, Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi from the University of California, Irvine, presented a detailed analysis of how magnetized solar particles could damage this "planetary internet."
"The pandemic revealed how unprepared the world was for crises without clear protocols. The internet's resilience faces a similar gap," Abdu Jyothi told WIRED. "Our infrastructure isn't ready for such events, and we lack a full grasp of the potential damage."
The study warns that long-haul submarine cables linking continents could suffer catastrophic failures, resulting in months-long connectivity blackouts. These cables rely on repeaters spaced along the seafloor to boost optical signals, but the electronic components in these devices are susceptible to geomagnetically induced currents.
That said, local and regional networks would likely remain operational, as fiber optics themselves are immune to these currents, according to Abdu Jyothi.
Damage intensifies near the poles, making high-latitude cables across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans especially vulnerable, even to moderate storms. The U.S. stands out as most at risk due to heavy reliance on transatlantic links to Europe, the study notes.
Europe benefits from more terrestrial connections, while Asia is somewhat shielded—Singapore, a key hub, lies near the equator, and regional cables are shorter with multiple redundancies.
Researchers estimate a 1.6% to 12% chance per decade of a solar event severe enough to trigger these disruptions. Abdu Jyothi calls for urgent, deeper research to fully assess the threat and bolster preparedness.
