A powerful solar activity had been released by the sun which had reached Earth on Monday, which had caused beautiful, colorful auroral displays and GPS issues for aircraft, according to the National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction (SWPC). The solar radiation storm was ranked at a dangerously high level. It was at a four out of five on a severity scale tracked by the SWPC. They said this was the designated event as “the largest solar radiation storm in over 20 years.” A solar radiation storm marks the release of intense, rapidly-moving charged particles that are coming towards Earth and can make a huge impact on space launches, with things like aviation and satellite operations. The last time Earth had encountered a severe solar radiation storm, the levels were continuously observed which was in October in 2003 according to the SWPC. When the actual solar radiation storms actually reach earth , they can cause a very dangerous increase in radiation exposure risks for astronauts in low-Earther orbit. SWPC had notified all the airlines including NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, and all of the other operators ahead of time before the storm had hit. “We’ve been making all these phone calls to ensure that we are keeping all the critical technological infrastructure operators in the know of what’s happening,” said SWPC forecaster Shawn Dahl. During this increased radiation risk event, the astronauts can move to parts of the space station that are way better shielded for their protection, like they have during previous solar storms. One storm in particular that had happened was the one that occurred in May 2024. During the May 2024 geomagnetic storm, tractor company John Deere reported that some customers reliant on GPS for precision farming experienced a disruption. But for the most part, the power grid and satellite operators had kept all of the satellites in order and properly in orbit, and had perfectly managed the buildup of intense geomagnetic currents on the grid systems.