Students at the University of Rhode Island ran out from their dorms to watch the northern lights ranging from pink to green over the United States on Thursday, Oct. 17.
Aurora borealis have been seen before in areas like the Northeast and as south as Alabama, but it is more unusual, according to URI extreme weather professor Arthur Spivack. Places like Europe, the United States and Australia have experienced the recent northern lights.
Aurora borealis is an indicator of geomagnetic storms, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . These storms are caused by excessive solar wind traffic into the Earth’s atmosphere. Solar flares are accompanied by coronal mass ejection, plasma bubbles from the Sun, carrying the Sun’s magnetic field. When a CME impacts the Earth’s magnetosphere, a geomagnetic storm is formed as a result.
The current geomagnetic storm has been rated a G4, on a scale of minor to extreme, or 1 to 5, according to the South African National Space Agency . G4 is categorized as a severe storm. The storm is expected to impact electrical voltage control and satellite navigation degradation.
The Earth’s atmosphere is still in Solar Cycle 25, according to NOAA. This is the largest solar flare observed since 2017, peaking between this November and March 2026. NOAA predicts a higher frequency of space weather events and more aurora borealis in the next two years.
“There will be more droughts and all other types of extreme weather,” Spivack said. “Name any extreme weather, it is probably more likely.”
Geomagnetic storms have been known to impact electrical systems like satellites, specifically in northern latitudes, according to Spivack.
Satellites have discovered the impact of northern lights, according to a NASA press release on June 6, 2013 . Substorms can interfere with radio communication and cause power outages.
Aurora Borealis is formed by magnetic storms triggered by solar flares, which are electromagnetic radiation from the sun, according to NOAA. Gas particles in the Earth’s atmosphere slam into other molecules, causing them to create heat.
“We call this physical process excitation, but it’s very much like heating a gas and making it glow,” astronomer Tom Kerss said during an interview with the Royal Museum of Greenwich .
All systems on or near Earth are impacted by the changes in the sun’s solar cycle, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center at NOAA. Depending on the cycle, the sun emits higher solar energy. However, the International Panel on Climate Change determined that solar activity would be considered one of the least influential systems to climate change.
“Given the historical rarity of such events, particularly in the last 200 years, their climate impacts are not well understood,” the SWPC said.
While aurora borealis is not associated with climate change, it is still a disruption to the Earth’s atmosphere that impacts humanity, according to Spivack. Due to warming temperatures, uncanny extreme weather is expected to increase.