By Andrew P. McCoy and Fred Sargent
Published On September 15, 2023
The Great Geomagnetic Storm of September 1859: A look at the solar event that caused worldwide electrical disruptions
Every electrical lineworker deserves to know the story of the Carrington Event of 1859.
In September 1859, a coronal mass ejection—a shower of plasma and magnetic fields ejected from the sun—collided with Earth’s magnetosphere, the magnetic bubble high above us that protects our atmosphere from being blown away by the solar winds and shields our planet from solar and other sources of radiation from outer space.
It disastrously disrupted the world’s telegraph networks, which were the only full-scale “electrical” systems in existence. It was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history.
If a coronal mass ejection of this magnitude happened today, it would damage or even completely destroy electrical systems around the globe, including power generation and transmission and distribution, resulting in blackouts and other disruptions to electrical service.
Be aware that there is always a chance it could happen again. Indeed, a smaller but significant version hit Earth as recently as August 2003. In 2012, a Carrington-size coronal mass ejection hurled from the sun and narrowly missed Earth as it passed.