An aurora is a light emission that comes as a result of electrical charges passing energy to electrons. Those electrons do not want the extra energy, so they emit it as photons, or simply put, light.
This begs several questions. Where do the electrical charges come from? How can something so high in the sky impact electronics on Earth? To answer these questions we must start at the source, the Sun.
The intro image reference is NASA at NASA Aurora Image.
Moving charge causes a magnetic field. And a magnetic field exerts a force on a moving charge. If electric charged particles stream over the Earth they are capable of producing a magnetic field, which in turn can act with a force to move charged particles in a conductor. This is possible because some electrons in a conductor are free to move producing an electric current in that conductor. This is how a transformer works.
If the magnetic field is changing the conductor responds as though it were moving with respect to the magnetic field. An electric current will occur.
As charged particles pass overhead, the moving charges collectively can produce a strong magnetic field, which in turn passes energy to conductors at the Earth’s surface by inducing those unwanted currents to flow. These unwanted currents can overload electrical grids and damage sensitive electronics.
The Sun is so hot that its matter is in the form of plasma. The atoms and electrons are separated. The plasma acts like a fluid in that it is capable of flowing.
Moving charge causes magnetic fields to form. Actually, because of differential rotation of the Sun, rotation at different rates depending on distance from the solar equator, the magnetic fields twist and contort.
As the movement of electrical charges move they produce magnetic fields that force charged particles upward into coronal loops where magnetic energy becomes stored. These coronal loops can twist until they release the energy releasing the charged particles into space. This usually happens at a sunspot, a swirling solar storm. When sunspots are present there is a danger of a solar flare, or emission of charged particles into space.
Sunspots change their direction of rotation in a period of eleven years. This is because the Sun reverses its magnetic field, the composite of many localized magnetic fields, enery eleven years.
The particles that are released into space at a sunspot by a solar flare are numerous, perhaps the mass of a mountain. These take one to a few days to reach Earth, if they do at all. Their direction must be right to encounter the Earth’s magnetic field.
If the particles encounter the Earth’s magnetic field, they will begin to spiral along the field lines. If the intensity is strong enough charged particles might interact with upper atmospheric atoms and molecules. This drives electrons into higher energy states. Electrons do not remain in higher states long before they settle back to their normal energy states. The difference in energy is released as the lights of aurorae.
There is another effect of the charged particles spiraling along magnetic field lines. If the intensity is strong enough and the charged particles come close enough to the Earth, the particles act like electricity in the primary of a transformer. Wires in the grid and in electronics can act as transformer secondaries and develop stray currents that can cause damage.
Yes. When the solar magnetic field reverses the Sun becomes more active. The activity is not the same for each cycle.
Yes. There is an eleven-year climate cycle. The Earth is usually warmer during increased sunspot activity. But the best evidence is the Sun had a prolonged minimum of about seventy-five years during the Little Ice Age. It cannot be that conditions on Earth would impact the Sun, so it is reasonable to suggest the correlation indicates sunspots are a method by which the Sun can affect the climate on Earth.
The particles that impact the upper atmosphere bring energy with them, so it is reasonable that they would impact climate on the planet.
Aurorae occur at different quantities and different intensities during different years. They can impact Earth, and it is not possible to eliminate the risks.
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Comments
Thank you for your comment below in answer to my previous observation and question!
Think of it like this: Is the air noisy? Well, radios operate by converting electromagnetic waves to sound waves. Moving charge can cause electromagnetic waves, which can be converted using something as simple as a radio to audible sound. Aurorae (pl.) are generated much like lightning, albeit the electrons are not necessarily energized enough to leave the molecules, but are energized into a higher energy state.
Except near the magnetic poles, aurorae occur in low pressure due to few molecules, but just like wind they do collide with the molecules. I suppose a faint sound could occur, but would be attenuated out before reaching any human.
Thank you for your comment below in answer to my previous observation and question.
Could it be correct to consider solar-system space as quiet to the unaided human ear even as that same space -- through such interactions as solar winds and planetary magnetic fields -- clusters sounds audible -- greatly or slightly? -- to the human ear aided by such instrumentation as -- ordinary or special? -- radios?
The electric charge is moving, so it is not static charge. Think of it as charge sent from the SUN to a planet. Energizing atoms in a lab and the state of the energized electrons emit the excess energy as they return to ground state emits light, not sound.
Sound of the disturbance in the electric field can be observed in devices such as radios. I am thinking of the interaction of solar wind, the source of aurora, with Jupiter's magnetic field which can produce the sounds you mention on Earth through a radio.
Thank you for your comment below in answer to my previous observation and question.
The northern lights inspire interesting northern explanations, legends, myths and tales.
For example, native Greenlanders jubilate their ancestral Arsarnerit.
Team-players Arsarnerit meet for soccer matches over their island so much like the frozen, ice-sheeted Arctic Circle and Arctic Sea. They manifest as green luminosities of rustling, whistling sounds.
Might any other cultural or research source mention northern-lights static electricity as making audible rustles and whistles?
The sun ejects high speed charged particles. while electrical induction is the cause of damage to electronics, the particles themselves are dangerous. This is sike radioactive decay emitting high speed particles. and even transpolar flights can experience radiation equivalent to numerous X-ray treatments. These are two distinct ways of causing damage. Space walks should be delayed during periods where expouire is likely.
Thank you for your comment in answer to my previous observation and question.
Does auroral activity damage or do in the electronic devices in astronaut/cosmonaut suits during space walks or space-station exterior repairs?
Aurorae can by electrical induction.
Thank you for your comment in answer to my previous observation and question.
Can auroras and sunspots change flying-object -- such as helicopters and planes -- and space-station electronics?
Perhaps, but currently the corruption of the language often goes to auroras.