Ken Tegnell, who grew up on Alcatraz, now works as a space-weather forecaster. He stares at real-time images of the sun for ten hours a day, trying to predict the impact of space weather on our planet. A severe solar storm could potentially cripple our infrastructure, causing trillions of dollars in damage and taking up to a decade to recover from. Tegnell monitors solar flares and coronal mass ejections from the sun, looking for signs of a major solar storm. Despite the importance of his job, most people are unaware of the existence and potential impact of space weather.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/04/what-a-major-solar-storm-could-do-to-our-planet