Question

How do solar flares affect Earth?

Answer 1

Solar flares are a sudden explosion of energy caused by tangling, crossing or reorganizing of magnetic flux lines near sunspots. The surface of the Sun may be a very busy place. It's electrically charged gases that generate areas of powerful magnetic forces. These areas are called magnetic fields.

Complete answer:
Solar flares and CMEs send enormous amounts of energy and charged particles hurtling into collision with the Earth's upper atmosphere, where they will cause geomagnetic storms. Charged particles during geomagnetic storms cause disturbances within the Earth's magnetic flux, generating effects on electrical systems.
On average, solar flares of this magnitude occur about 10 times a year and are more common during solar maximum than solar minimum. Strong to extreme (R3 to R5) radio blackouts occur on the daylight side of the world during the flare.
Whether or not they reach the world doesn't depend upon the dimensions of the flare, but depends only on where on the Sun the flare occurred. Fortunately, regardless of what, flares don't have a big effect on us here on Earth.
CMEs travel outward from the Sun at speeds starting from slower than 250 kilometers per second (km/s) to as fast as near 3000 km/s. The fastest Earth-directed CMEs can reach our planet in as little as 15-18 hours. Slower CMEs can take several days to arrive.

Note:
While the magnetosphere blocks charged particles, the ionosphere, a high-level layer of Earth's atmosphere, stops the radiation from solar flares. Every day, charged gas particles within the 153-mile-deep ionosphere absorb radiation and stop it from reaching the surface.