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‘Space hurricanes’ churn at both of Earth’s magnetic poles

The symmetry supports the idea that snappy magnetic field lines drive the storms

illustration of a green cyclone-shaped aurora near Earth's north magnetic pole

Dozens of space hurricanes (one illustrated) swirl at both of Earth’s magnetic poles each year, largely in summer months. The plasma cyclones may be driven by snappy magnetic field lines.

Qing-He Zhang/Shandong University

By Carolyn Gramling

On Earth, hurricane season isn’t just surface level. The ionosphere, an upper layer of the atmosphere charged by solar radiation, also contains swirling storms of plasma dubbed “space hurricanes.”