Solar flare radiation burst ‘cracked’ Earth’s magnetic field, caused radio blackouts

‘The magnetic field that protects Earth from deadly cosmic radiation may be more vulnerable than previously thought. A crack in the shield caused by a solar flare which exposed the planet to a bombardment of radiation has been detected.
Researchers from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in India made the discovery when analyzing a galactic cosmic ray burst that caused radio blackouts across North and South America and a supercharged aurora borealis in 2015.
The cosmic ray source was a giant solar plasma cloud that travelled 40 hours from our sun to reach Earth, where the researchers believe it caused a transient “weakening of Earth’s magnetic shield”, according to their findings published in the journal Physical Review Letters.’
Read more: Solar flare radiation burst ‘cracked’ Earth’s magnetic field, caused radio blackouts