Get all the facts about this amazing Ice Age discovery in our quick, 1-minute read.
- Scientists uncovered the most powerful solar flare ever known, striking Earth in 12,350 BC, during the end of the last Ice Age
- These storms shoot charged particles from the Sun at high speed, which today bombard Earth and disrupt electronics and power grids
- Researchers tracked the storm by analysing tree rings, which preserve traces of radiocarbon spikes caused by solar radiation.
- Using a cutting-edge model called SOCOL:14C-Ex, scientists reconstructed the storm's impact on ancient glacial conditions
- This Ice Age storm was 500 times stronger than the biggest modern solar storm in 2005, and 18% stronger than a major event in AD 775.
- This is the first confirmed solar superstorm from outside the last 12,000 years, giving scientists a new tool to study ancient solar activity.
- Learning about past mega-storms helps us prepare for future ones that could cripple satellites, power grids, and communication networks.
- Named after a Japanese scientist, these radiocarbon spikes – Miyake Events – help date ancient events, and now they’ve pushed the solar flare timeline further than ever before
Get the full story in our report on the 12,350 BC solar storm
