Disturbances in the space environment caused by solar flares, coronal mass ejections, magnetic storms, and galactic cosmic rays can affect people and their activities such as:

• Communications
• Satellites
• Navigation
• Geologic explorations
• Power distribution
• Pipelines
• Human health
• Climate

Impacts of space weather (Image Credit: L. J. Lanzerotti, Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Inc.)