Solar wind impacts on giant ‘space hurricanes’ may affect satellite safety

Could the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in Costa Rica set off a hurricane in California? For most people, this hypothetical scenario may be difficult to imagine on Earth — particularly when a real disaster strikes. Yet, in space, similarly small fluctuations in the solar wind as it streams toward the Earth’s magnetic shield actually can affect the speed and strength of ‘space hurricanes,’ researcher Katariina Nykyri of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has reported in in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Space Physics.
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