But behind the beauty lies a threat that few outside the insurance and power industries are aware of. These vivid auroras are visible features of geomagnetic storms – disturbances caused by solar flares and coronal mass ejections that fling charged particles towards Earth. As they take ethereal selfies, they also induce powerful currents in the Earth’s magnetic field. These currents can quietly fry transformers, destroy satellites, and in severe cases, plunge entire continents into darkness.
