coronal mass ejection

On Oct. 29, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) unveiled an action plan for the United States to address space weather. A gathering of more than 200 government, industry and academic leaders witnessed the unveiling of an interagency approach to deal with this little-appreciated natural threat. As OSTP Director John Holdren noted in his welcoming address, most people are well aware of risks associated with severe terrestrial weather. But most people are not aware that solar flares, intense solar particle bursts and powerful magnetic storms on Earth can devastate modern human technologies.

To continue reading this article:

Register now and get
3 free articles every month.

You’ll also receive our weekly SpaceNews This Week newsletter every Friday. Opt-out at any time.

Sign in to an existing account

Get unlimited access to
SpaceNews.com now.

Use code SNLAUNCH for 30% off your first payment.

Subscriptions renew automatically at full price. Cancel anytime. Sales tax may apply. No refunds. Only one discount code valid per subscription.

See all subscription options

Daniel N. Baker is director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Brian Berger is editor in chief of SpaceNews.com and the SpaceNews magazine. He joined SpaceNews.com in 1998, spending his first decade with the publication covering NASA. His reporting on the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident was recognized with...