There was a fascinating but slightly chilling news release this morning about the effects of solar activity on the Global Positioning System.  It was released by the US’s National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  It begins:

“During an unprecedented solar eruption last December, researchers at Cornell University confirmed solar radio bursts can have a serious impact on the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other communication technologies using radio waves. The findings were announced today in Washington, D.C., at the first Space Weather Enterprise Forum – an assembly of academic, government and private sector scientists focused on examining the Earth's ever-increasing vulnerability to space weather impacts.”

It continues: “In December, we found the effect on GPS receivers were more profound and widespread than we expected,” said Paul Kintner, Ph.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University. “Now we are concerned more severe consequences will occur during the next solar maximum.”

Read the full press release here.

To read about the effects on Earth of the largest solar storm in history, check out my book The Sun Kings.