History Main / SolarFlareDisaster

According to Website/TheOtherWiki, a solar flare is a flash of brightness on the sun's surface that causes a sudden release of energy. In RealLife, these are quite common, and (generally) only pose a hazard to astronauts in space. While some potential dangers exist from solar flares on Earth, for the most part, they haven't caused any serious trouble in recent times.[[note]]And most of it tends to be interfering with satellites already in orbit and other sensitive electronics. Otherwise-'ooh, look at the pretty lights! (Aurora Australis[=/=]Borealis)'[[/note]]

Generally though, in fiction: Flare + Some hapless target = Bad Things Happening.

Of course, SpaceIsBig and Earth is a very small target. To cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt in real life, a coronal mass ejection would not only have to be traveling in the right direction, but also have the correct vertical orientation relative to Earth's magnetic field in order to be channeled by it rather than blocked. However, the AnthropicPrinciple naturally dictates that these [[ContrivedCoincidence requirements are met for this form of the trope to take place]].

* ''ComicBook/BuckGodotZapgunForHire'': The Great Solar Flare caused the collapse of civilization in the 21st century and its eventual rebuilding.

* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' storyline "ComicBook/BrainiacRebirth": When his super-computer breaks down due to an electro-magnetic anomaly, Superman guesses that it was caused by one Brainiac's red-sun torpedo exploding into the sun and generating a sunspot. Superman then realizes that he can beat Brainiac by luring his ship to the Sun and creating a sunspot which damages his computer brain.

* ''Fanfic/{{Bait and Switch|STO}}'': Defied in the first chapter. The USS ''Bajor'' is on a survey mission and is studying a star when they detect a coronal mass ejection. They power up the engines and get out of the way well ahead of time.

* Inverted at the end of ''WesternAnimation/RockaDoodle'' where a solar flare triggered by Chanticleer the rooster's crowing finally bringing up the Sun and ending TheNightThatNeverEnds inflicted upon his farm by the evil [[OminousOwl Duke of Owls]] is what ultimately defeats the evil Owl once and for all, causing him to shrink down to a size smaller than a mouse and subsequently chased away by his own nephew.

* ''Film/Finch2021'': A solar flare has destroyed the earths ozone, killing most of life and left the Earth a scorched wasteland, possibly the last surviving human is Finch and his only companions are his dog Goodyear and a robot he built Jeff.
* ''Film/{{Knowing}}'': A solar flare [[spoiler: is featured at the end, where it destroys all life on the planet.]]

* The 1990 Japanese/American co-production ''Film/SolarCrisis'' revolves around an international space mission to go to the Sun and [[DeusExNukina detonate a nuclear weapon]] which will make a gigantic solar flare that is predicted to cook Earth to go off early, sparing the planet.

* Shows up in Creator/LarryNiven short stories:
** "Flare Time" is about one of these. It's about how regular solar flares force the Earth colonists to take shelter and cause Medea's native life forms to come out of hiding.
** ''Inconstant Moon'': The protagonist initially believes that the sun has gone nova and the world is going to end, but realizes that that can't be the case or it would have finished ending already. Instead, the solar flare just killed everything on the side of the planet facing it.
* In ''[[Literature/TheMazeRunner The Maze Runner Trilogy]]'', solar flares and a pandemic that followed led the the demise of civilization, save for a few bases here and there.
* In Creator/JamesMichener's ''{{Literature/Space}}'', a solar flare interrupts the Apollo 18 mission while two astronauts are on the moon. [[spoiler:They're both killed; the third astronaut escapes in the command module.]]
* In Shea and Wilson's ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'', the disaster that destroyed legendary Atlantis is due to an artificially induced solar flare brought about by an embittered Moral Guardian.
* Suspected to be the case why Mulolowa is barren in ''Literature/JunctionPoint'', as it still has an oxygenated atmosphere despite being lifeless.
* A recurring plot element in the ''Literature/{{Rihannsu}}'' novels is a Romulan-developed technique called "Sunseed", in which a starship can cause a star to produce a directed solar storm of variable yield that can also affect subspace multiple light-years away.
** In ''Literature/MyEnemyMyAlly'', this is initially used to temporarily blind a Starfleet task force's sensors, covering the Romulan capture of the Vulcan-crewed USS ''Intrepid''. [[spoiler:After attacking the Romulan base where the crew is being held, the ''Enterprise'', ''Intrepid'', and the friendly Romulan ship [=ChR=] ''Bloodwing'' use Sunseed to destroy some of their pursuers.]]
** Scotty's subplot in ''The Empty Chair'' concerns efforts to render Sunseed useless as a military tactic, [[spoiler:eventually leading him to use Eisn, the primary of the Romulan home system, to defeat a Romulan attempt to destroy Earth with a Sunseed-derived technology]]. Early in the book the Romulan Grand Fleet also tries to glass the rebelling colony of Artaleirh by making their sun produce a solar flare, but the Klingons throw a SpannerInTheWorks.
* ''Literature/SpocksWorld'' by the same author as the ''Rihannsu'' series describes primordial Vulcan as a verdant planet with extensive forests and bodies of water. A massive solar flare transformed it into the desert planet of the present day, burning away forests, boiling oceans, and stripping away most of the atmosphere. "Sunstorm weather" is mentioned as manifesting periodically up until nearly the time of Surak, and the secession debate takes place in a massive shelter built against such weather.
* The ''Sword of the Spirits'' trilogy by Creator/JohnChristopher is apparently set in a medieval society that's arisen after a nuclear war has caused machine technology to be banned. It's later revealed that the disaster was caused by an increase of radiation from solar flares; thanks to FutureImperfect the descendants assumed this as the surviving literature all spoke of fear of nuclear armageddon.
* In the book ''Flare'', by Thomas T. Thomas and Creator/RogerZelazny , the plot is kicked off by a solar flare. Played relatively realistically- the story takes place in a future where there are many inhabited space stations, hotels, and retirement communities; a big part of what the flare does is cause Earth's atmosphere to expand for a short while, increasing the drag on the low Earth orbit settlements, causing some of them to unexpectedly break up in the atmosphere.

* ''Series/IntoTheNight''. The sun has started to emit lethal gamma radiation, killing anyone on Earth who is exposed to sunlight, with the radiation penetrating any normal building or underground shelter. The protagonists are on an airplane that has to keep ahead of the sunrise. There's a Turkish spin-off ''Yakamoz.S-245'' involving a diesel-electric submarine that can only surface at night.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E02ShadowsAndSymbols Shadows and Symbols]]", the IKS ''Rotarran'' uses its tractor beam to cause a solar eruption and destroy a Dominion shipyard.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': A recurring issue in the series.
** The Fourth Doctor finds humans in an ark in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace The Ark in Space]]" due to flares making the Earth dangerous to live on.
** A more realistic version in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E12BadWolf Bad Wolf]]" -- a solar flare causes a brief disturbance for the Game Station, enough for the human controller wired into the system to briefly regain sentience and give the Doctor vital information. While this is a good thing for the Doctor, it's definitely a disaster for her superiors [[spoiler:the Daleks]].
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow The Beast Below]]" has them the reason being why the UK (and other nations) had evacuated to the stars.
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E5TheRebelFlesh The Rebel Flesh]]" has it being a common problem in the 22nd century because of unknown reasons. One kickstarts the plot and causes the clones to become sentient.
** A solar storm plays havoc with the defenses of the bank of Karabraxos in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E5TimeHeist Time Heist]]" causing the Doctor to realize that the [[BankRobbery heist]] was planned out by someone with knowledge from the future. [[spoiler:Eventually, the solar storm incinerates the bank and perhaps the entire world of Karabraxos.]]
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E10InTheForestOfTheNight In the Forest of the Night]]" has the Earth about to be incinerated by a truly massive solar flare, thankfully the day is saved [[ItMakesSenseInContext thanks to a psychic child and some trees]]. This has apparently happened before, as anomalous tree rings reveal.
* ''Series/ForAllMankind'': A large solar storm hits the Moon in the first episode of Season 2, bombarding the surface with radiation and causing the dust to move in ripples.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
** The plot of "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E18UpTheLongLadder Up the Long Ladder]]" is kicked off when a colony is rendered uninhabitable by solar flares.
** A variation occurs a couple of times with starships creating solar flares to destroy enemy ships, including by Klingon commander Kurn in the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E26S5E1Redemption Redemption]]", and by the ''Enterprise'', manned by a skeleton crew, in the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E24S7E1Descent Descent]]".
* In the ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'' episode "Hegemony", a series of coronal mass ejections in the Shangdi System do not themselves cause any harm to anything important; instead, they seem to be a trigger for a Gorn attack there and then the nearby human colony on Parnassus Beta.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', a coronal mass ejection causes Clark's powers to go haywire, alternately activating at random and failing to activate at all, and nearly leading to him being unmasked by a {{paparazzi}} passing through town. From this Pete guesses that Clark's abilities are powered by the Sun.

* In ''Series/The100'', solar flares are a regular problem for people onboard the Ark space station. Ironically, it turns out that, though they've been living in space in order to avoid the radioactive fallout on Earth, they've actually absorbed ''more'' radiation, thanks to solar flares, than they would have if they'd returned to the Ground.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S2E12InconstantMoon Inconstant Moon]]" (an adaption of the Niven short story), the first sign for those on the night side that something has happened to the Sun is that the Moon is shining far brighter than normal. Professor Stan Hurst initially believes that the Sun has gone nova and [[MistakenForApocalypse that they have only five hours to live before the entire planet is destroyed]]. As such, it's a relief when it turns out to "just" be a massive solar flare... though the reprieve means they have to start thinking about a tomorrow again. At the end of the episode, there is extreme flooding, but the scale of the disaster is not made clear.[[note]]In the original Niven short story, most if not all of humanity in the Eastern Hemisphere is presumed dead, but there are at least some survivors in North America.[[/note]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' Classic, ''Alien Module 8: Darrians''. In the BackStory, the Darrians were performing an experiment on their sun when an unexpected side effect caused massive stellar flares that burned their planet's surface like a blowtorch and wiped out their high-tech civilization.

* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'': Played realistically. Flares will just disrupt communications with other civs for a set period of time, opposed to frying the surface. However, [[WhatYouAreInTheDark atrocities will be kept secret.]]
* Humanity is barely surviving in the future of ''VideoGame/ANewBeginning'' thanks to [[GreenAesop ecological mismanagement turning the world into a wasteland]] and soon, the last dregs will be wiped out by a solar flare without the ozone layer to protect them.

* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed''. [[spoiler: The First Civilization was wiped out when a solar flare hit Earth and caused it to become geologically unstable. The driving goal for the series up until after ''III'' is to stop this from happening again.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Starflight}}''. Solar flares are occurring all over the sector the game is set in, causing entire worlds to be wiped out and driving the search for planets to colonize. [[spoiler: Investigating ruins on Earth show that this happened in the distant past as well. The cause of the flares then and now is eventually revealed to be the Ancients, who are destroying other sentient life with a weapon known as the Crystal Planet. The motive behind the Ancients doing this is that they are actually Endurium, the fuel used to power starships. However, their biology is so radically different from other life that they have no way of communicating to others.]]

* One of the random events in ''VideoGame/{{RimWorld}}'' is a solar flare that knocks out all electrical devices for about a day or so. This can spell doom if it happens in a colony located in a climate and season where electric heating/cooling are necessary for survival. It's also one of the few events that can't be counteracted in any way, the only thing to do is wait it out.
* ''VideoGame/TheLongDark'''s plot revolves around the Auroras, that knocked out all electricity as far as can be ascertained, and even changed the behaviour of predatory animals like wolves and bears. Sometimes, in clear nights, the auroras recur, whereupon they make animals even more aggressive and glowy in a {{sickly green|Glow}} hue, and most bizarrely, restore power to the entire grid of Great Bear Island. It's not just random power either, it's perfectly in line to get computers, radios, and other sensitive electronics working normally. Even if they're not connected to anything. Loose wires also become live, with [[HighVoltageDeath very hazardous results if touched]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' occasionally spawns a star system with an unstable star and a tomb world at risk of being fried by superflares. In fact, the planet used to be life-bearing before said flares turned it into an irradiated hellscape. You can settle the world like any other, and a simple local research project can protect the planet from the incoming flares, but you only have a short window of opportunity to conduct the necessary research before bad things happen to your colonists.
** You can discover a dead world with a bunker underneath it containing the last survivors of a planet wiped out by a solar flare. Once you wake them up from suspended animation, you can let them [[VideoGameCaringPotential join your empire, become your vassal]], [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential or just kick them out into the wider galaxy]].
* Solar flares are one of several possible GeoEffects you may have to contend with in ''VideoGame/BattlefleetGothicArmada2''. They appear as an AdvancingWallOfDoom that periodically sweep across the whole map, disabling shields and setting multiple fires on any ship they touch. [[SpaceElves Aeldari]] vessels are immune to flares due to their entire species' mastery of life in space, but everyone else must seek shelter in {{Asteroid Thicket}}s or SpaceClouds to avoid disaster.

* In ''VisualNovel/RoboticsNotes'' the Earth is currently experiencing extreme weather caused by frequent solar flares, which are also messing with electronics worldwide and causing them to malfunction and harm people. While this is all happening the main character, Kaito, finds the "Kimijima Kou" files that claim the reason for the solar flares is that the sun is about to explode, and that governments worldwide are trying to cover it up. [[spoiler: This turns out to be propaganda by Kimijima, to distract the public while he attempts to artificially create a solar storm big enough to kill five billion people.]]

[[folder:Web Original]]

* The ''WebAnimation/CyanideAndHappiness'' short Ladder Part: 3 shows a solar flare destroying the Earth and all its inhabitants, except for a father and son who escaped using a ladder.

* ''Series/IntoTheNight''. The sun has started to emit lethal gamma rays, killing anyone on Earth who is exposed to sunlight. The protagonists are on an airplane that has to keep ahead of the sunrise. There's a Turkish spin-off ''Yakamoz.S-245'' involving a diesel-electric submarine that can only surface at night.

* {{Defied}} in the first chapter of ''Fanfic/{{Bait and Switch|STO}}''. The USS ''Bajor'' is on a survey mission and is studying a star when they detect a coronal mass ejection. They power up the engines and get out of the way well ahead of time.

* In ''Manga/MoonlightMile'', a flare hits the ''Galileo'' transport ship before it leaves for the Moon. The crewmembers of the first lunar expedition have to hide behind the ''Orion'' space shuttle and food and water supplies to shield themselves from the radiation.

* A bit of [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20071018 expository text]] in ''ComicBook/BuckGodotZapgunForHire'' mentions the Great Solar Flare, which caused the collapse of civilization in the 21st century and its eventual rebuilding into the somewhat less uptight version seen in Buck's time period.

* The 1990 Japanese/American co-production ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Crisis_(film) Solar Crisis]]'' revolves around an international space mission to go to the Sun and [[DeusExNukina detonate a nuclear weapon]] which will make a gigantic solar flare that is predicted to cook Earth to go off early, sparing the planet.

[[caption-width-right:350:Incoming!]]

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1339197tx2sbjj_9935.png]]]]

* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'': Played realistically. Flares will just disrupt communications with other civs for a set period of time, opposed to frying the surface. However, atrocities will be kept secret.

** In ''Till the Blood Runs Clear'', solar flares in one system allow Crichton's pod to enter unstable wormholes. However, it needs repairs and the mechanic states that it'll be four years before the flares come again. [[spoiler: A later episode reveals she was lying.]]
** In ''Suns And Lovers'', solar flares have destroyed two trade stations in a system, and now the third and last of them is threatened. It turns out that a cult which worshiped the system's star and considered the trade stations blasphemous found a way to "attract" solar flares. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rVVOkVPdxM The solution]] is one of [[Funny/{{Farscape}} the funniest scenes in the series]].
* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E02ShadowsAndSymbols "Shadows and Symbols"]] the IKS ''Rotarran'' uses its tractor beam to cause a solar eruption and destroy a Dominion shipyard.

* ''Series/DoctorWho''. A recurring issue in the series.

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow The Beast Below]]" has them the reason being why the UK (and other nations) had evacuated to the stars.
** The Fourth Doctor finds humans in an ark in the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace The Ark in Space]]" due to flares making the Earth dangerous to live on.
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E10InTheForestOfTheNight In the Forest of the Night]]" has the Earth about to be incinerated by a truly massive solar flare, thankfully the day is saved [[ItMakesSenseInContext thanks to a psychic child and some trees]]. Apparently this has happened before, as anomalous tree rings reveal.
** A solar storm plays havoc with the defenses of the bank of Karabraxos in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E5TimeHeist Time Heist]]" causing the Doctor to realize that the [[BankRobbery heist]] was planned out by someone with knowledge from the future. [[spoiler: Eventually, the solar storm incinerates the bank and perhaps the entire world of Karabraxos.]]
** A more realistic version in "Bad Wolf" - a solar flare causes a brief disturbance for the Game Station, enough for the human controller wired into the system to briefly regain sentience and give the Doctor vital information. While this is a good thing for the Doctor, it was definitely a disaster for her superiors [[spoiler: the Daleks.]]

* A variation has occurred in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' a couple of times, in which starships will create solar flares to destroy enemy ships, including by Klingon commander Kurn in the episode "Redemption", and by the ''Enterprise'', manned by a skeleton crew, in the episode "Descent".
** The episode "Up the Long Ladder" had the plot kicked off when a colony was rendered uninhabitable by solar flares.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' a coronal mass ejection causes Clark's powers to go haywire, alternately activating at random and failing to activate at all, and nearly leading to him being unmasked by a {{paparazzi}} passing through town. From this Pete guesses that Clark's abilities are powered by the Sun.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'' and ''Franchise/StargateVerse'':
** Solar Flares firing up in the route of a Stargate's wormhole can lead to time travel, with three instances of this (the SG-1 episode "1969", the Atlantis episode "The Last Man" and the "Continuum" DirectToVideo film) affecting the cast directly. It's also used in "2010" to send a message back in time through the gate.
** Also the Atlantis episode "Echoes" has the Atlantis Expedition dealing with a coronal mass ejection (for once, referred to as such rather than a flare) that will completely fry the planet Atlantis is on.
* On ''Series/{{The 100}}'', solar flares are a regular problem for people onboard the Ark space station. Ironically, it turns out that, though they've been living in space in order to avoid the radioactive fallout on Earth, they've actually absorbed ''more'' radiation, thanks to solar flares, than they would have if they'd returned to the Ground.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Comicbook/VandalSavage's EvilPlan in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDoom'' is to launch a rocket at the sun which will create a solar flare and a magnetic trail left by the rocket would guide the flare back to Earth, incinerating the sunward facing side. The flare would wipe out half the world's population and the accompanying ElectromagneticPulse would stop anything more advanced than a steam engine from working. Then Savage and his LegionOfDoom would emerge from their protected base and rule over the survivors.
[[/folder]]

** Subversion in "Bad Wolf" - a solar flare causes a brief disturbance for the Game Station, enough for the human controller wired into the system to briefly regain sentience and give the Doctor vital information.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed''. [[spoiler: The First Civilization was wiped out when a solar flare hit Earth and caused it to become geologically unstable. The driving goal for the series up until after ''III'' is to stop this from happening again.]]

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "Inconstant Moon" (an adaption of the Niven short story), the first sign for those on the night side that something has happened to the Sun is that the Moon is shining far brighter than normal. Professor Stan Hurst initially believes that the Sun has gone nova and [[MistakenForApocalypse that they have only five hours to live before the entire planet is destroyed]]. As such, it's a relief when it turns out to "just" be a massive solar flare... though the reprieve means they have to start thinking about a tomorrow again. At the end of the episode, there is extreme flooding but the scale of the disaster is not made clear.[[note]]In the original Niven short story, most if not all of humanity in the Eastern Hemisphere is presumed dead, but there are at least some survivors in North America.[[/note]]