National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States NASA has said that the Earth had a near miss July 23, 2012 with a giant solar flare or Coronal Mass Ejection CME from the most powerful solar storm on the sun in over 150 years.
Daniel Baker from University of Colorado was quoted as saying “If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces,”
He added that Earth and its inhabitants were fortunate that the 2012 eruption occurred when it did and not a week earlier.
Scientists say that a direct CME hit would have the potential to eliminate communication networks, GPS, and electrical grids to cause widespread blackout.
AFP/AF