Potentially Dangerous Cosmic Rays Are Leaking Into Earth's Atmosphere -- Are We Safe?

A crack in Earth's magnetic shield has been spotted by researchers at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. The researchers were able to identify the crack analyzing the data gathered by India's GRAPES-3 muon telescope.

The news has caused panic among people, thinking that the protective layer of our earth is slowly vanishing. But how true is this?

According to Wired, the fissure which was first discovered in 2015, has let galactic cosmic rays leak into the Earth's atmosphere and caused huge geomagnetic storms in the northern hemisphere. The increased amount of cosmic rays penetrating our atmosphere has led to disrupted communication signals and knocked out radio signals.

The event, according to Science Alert is one of the most powerful geomagnetic storms in recent history.

In fact, results of the researchers' numerous simulations show that the cosmic bombardment, with speed of about 2.5 million kilometers per hour, was so unyielding, it caused a severe compression of the magnetosphere, forcing it to shrink from 11 to 4 times the radius of Earth.

"Earth's magnetic field deflects most cosmic rays, protecting living things from harmful radiation. But large geomagnetic storms can reconfigure this protective shield, opening up weak spots that let radiation and cosmic rays slip through. This vulnerability can occur when magnetized plasma from the Sun deforms Earth's magnetic field, stretching its shape at the poles and diminishing its ability to deflect charged particles," Katherine Wright explains on the American Physical Society website.

Science Explorer said that solar storms can cause major disruption to human civilization because it will interrupt technology and damage infrastructure. While, it is dangerous for the astronauts who are in space, there is no direct threat for the people on earth, unless the radiation bombardment ensues in the long run which may result to changing climate and drive up rates of cancer.

The researchers said there is nothing much we can do to repair the crack but we can study the crack to make us more ready in case more of it will occur in the future.

The research has been published in Physical Review Letters.