Postdoc Stergios Misios has received 1.9 mio. kr. from the Villum Foundation to study what would happen if the Earth is struck by a monstrous solar storm known as a black-swan event. Although we do not have any historic observations of a black-swan event, we know from radiocarbon measurements in tree rings that two such events took place in 775 and 993 AD, respectively. These explosions directed an enormous amount of highly energetic particles towards the Earth, but little is known about their influence on Earth’s environment .

In the project, Stergios will work together with Mads Faurschou Knudsen and Christoffer Karoff at the Department of Geoscience to model the environmental consequences of a black-swan solar storm. This will be done using a comprehensive Earth System Model that is able to seamlessly simulate regional environmental responses - from the top of the atmosphere to the bottom of the oceans. -. The Arctic ecosystems are expected to be particularly vulnerable to the increased ultraviolet radiation following a black-swan solar storm, an aspect that will be explored in detail under this project.