On April 5, 2010, the sun spewed a two-million-mile-per-hour stream of charged particles toward the invisible magnetic fields surrounding Earth, known as the magnetosphere. As the particles interacted with the magnetic fields, the incoming stream of energy caused stormy conditions near Earth. Some scientists believe that it was this solar storm that interfered with commands to a communications satellite, Galaxy-15, which subsequently foundered and drifted, taking almost a year to return to its station.

Researchers have found that residents of Louisiana and Florida most acutely and directly affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster — the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history — said they have changed their views on other environmental issues as a result of the spill.