10 Stunning Photos of Rare Northern Lights (And How to Take Your Own)

The northern half of the U.S. is in for a rare treat this week. The Northern Lights will be visible across much of the upper parts of the country, according to Accuweather.
Typically, in North America, you have to be in Canada or Alaska to catch a glimpse of this spectacular planetary light show. But due to a "huge solar storm," stargazers from New Hampshire to Nebraska might see the show tonight. Unfortunately, the skies in the Pacific Northwest and Canada will probably be too cloudy to have a good view, says Accuweather.
Here are the keys to catching a glimpse (and a photo) of the Aurora borealis, according to Accuweather:
- If you're in an area where the clouds are not obstructing your view of the night sky, you may still have to do more than stepping into your back yard to see the aurora.
- Being in a dark area with a clear view of the northern horizon is key to seeing the aurora. If you are trying to catch a glimpse of the aurora, you should travel to a spot that is far away from the light pollution given off by cities and towns.
- Being in a dark area is also important if you are trying to capture a picture of the northern lights. For the best results, you should use a camera that allows to you take pictures with an exposure of 10 to 30 seconds.
And if you're wondering what the heck you're looking at, the Northern Lights are caused by "collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere," explains the Northern Lights Centre in Canada. "The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. They are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south."
Update with time lapse video: #NorthernLights in Ludington. #PureMichigan indeed. Watch: https://t.co/mywg0mOXfS https://t.co/UmGIbaPctU— FOX 17 (@FOX 17)1446546899.0
The #NorthernLights are showing up in central Iowa now. ISCN's Brennan Jontz captured this photo just now #iawx https://t.co/4NdTwZcvM2— Iowa Storm Chasing (@Iowa Storm Chasing)1446528701.0
Moonrise last night and northern lights ! #burntside #Ely #Minnesota #Northernlights https://t.co/hysm0lrcoR— Hailey Worth (@Hailey Worth)1446567696.0
nice lights this morning - Lake Superior, Upper Michigan #lakesuperior #auroraborealis #northernlights #yooper #epic https://t.co/jdUVYpZKzu— Lake Superior Photo (@Lake Superior Photo)1446565323.0
Gorgeous #NorthernLights photos by @bryonhoulgrave https://t.co/QOJ0MSpE4w https://t.co/F8lASgrbaT— Des Moines Register (@Des Moines Register)1446552610.0
Did you catch the #AuroraBorealis last night? @blainemcc75 got this awesome shot! #WyWx #Wyoming #NorthernLights https://t.co/Bpmsf8fk5e— Wyo Tribune Eagle (@Wyo Tribune Eagle)1446570552.0
In Photos: Northern lights put on a show. https://t.co/xToGBRMMxO #northernlights #aurora https://t.co/6omNltWh8z— Global News Toronto (@Global News Toronto)1446568491.0
WOW! Northern Lights and star trail last night in Duluth, Minnesota. Photo: Shixing Wen. #Aurora #NorthernLights https://t.co/0IY8gGWsZg— Mark Tarello (@Mark Tarello)1446562837.0
WOW! Northern Lights seen last night near Duluth, Minnesota. Photo: Rich Hoeg. #Aurora #NorthernLights #MNwx https://t.co/QehSdg2oZ2— Mark Tarello (@Mark Tarello)1446555675.0
#NorthernLights just NW of Omaha, in Winslow, NE 11/03/15 0130-0145am #newx (part 2) @JimCantore @MattSerweKETV https://t.co/00OVfeYmR2— Larry Bell (@Larry Bell)1446546239.0
And even if you don't end up seeing the Northern Lights, you might catch the Taurids meteor shower. The meteor shower "will last into the middle of November, producing roughly five to 10 meteors per hour," says Accuweather. The Taurids are known for the brightness—sometimes shining even brighter than Venus, the third brightest object in the sky.
"The gradual peak of the shower is now through Nov. 12, with a possible absolute peak on the night of Nov. 11," reports AccuWeather Meteorologist Dave Samuhel.
WOW! #NorthernLights & fireball sighting this Monday night in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Photo: Maria Kosiba. #Fireball https://t.co/272zwUbV2T— Mark Tarello (@Mark Tarello)1446530232.0
And if you can't see anything, you can always watch super cool YouTube videos of the sun like you've never seen it before, this breathtaking time lapse video of the night sky or this amazing video of Yellowstone by moonlight.
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The speed and scale of the response to COVID-19 by governments, businesses and individuals seems to provide hope that we can react to the climate change crisis in a similarly decisive manner - but history tells us that humans do not react to slow-moving and distant threats.
A Game of Jenga
<p>Think of it as a game of Jenga and the planet's climate system as the tower. For generations, we have been slowly removing blocks. But at some point, we will remove a pivotal block, such as the collapse of one of the major global ocean circulation systems, for example the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), that will cause all or part of the global climate system to fall into a planetary emergency.</p><p>But worse still, it could cause runaway damage: Where the tipping points form a domino-like cascade, where breaching one triggers breaches of others, creating an unstoppable shift to a radically and swiftly changing climate.</p><p>One of the most concerning tipping points is mass methane release. Methane can be found in deep freeze storage within permafrost and at the bottom of the deepest oceans in the form of methane hydrates. But rising sea and air temperatures are beginning to thaw these stores of methane.</p><p>This would release a powerful greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, 30-times more potent than carbon dioxide as a global warming agent. This would drastically increase temperatures and rush us towards the breach of other tipping points.</p><p>This could include the acceleration of ice thaw on all three of the globe's large, land-based ice sheets – Greenland, West Antarctica and the Wilkes Basin in East Antarctica. The potential collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet is seen as a key tipping point, as its loss could eventually <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/324/5929/901" target="_blank">raise global sea levels by 3.3 meters</a> with important regional variations.</p><p>More than that, we would be on the irreversible path to full land-ice melt, causing sea levels to rise by up to 30 meters, roughly at the rate of two meters per century, or maybe faster. Just look at the raised beaches around the world, at the last high stand of global sea level, at the end of the Pleistocene period around 120,0000 years ago, to see the evidence of such a warm world, which was just 2°C warmer than the present day.</p>Cutting Off Circulation
<p>As well as devastating low-lying and coastal areas around the world, melting polar ice could set off another tipping point: a disablement to the AMOC.</p><p>This circulation system drives a northward flow of warm, salty water on the upper layers of the ocean from the tropics to the northeast Atlantic region, and a southward flow of cold water deep in the ocean.</p><p>The ocean conveyor belt has a major effect on the climate, seasonal cycles and temperature in western and northern Europe. It means the region is warmer than other areas of similar latitude.</p><p>But melting ice from the Greenland ice sheet could threaten the AMOC system. It would dilute the salty sea water in the north Atlantic, making the water lighter and less able or unable to sink. This would slow the engine that drives this ocean circulation.</p><p><a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/atlantic-conveyor-belt-has-slowed-15-per-cent-since-mid-twentieth-century" target="_blank">Recent research</a> suggests the AMOC has already weakened by around 15% since the middle of the 20th century. If this continues, it could have a major impact on the climate of the northern hemisphere, but particularly Europe. It may even lead to the <a href="https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10871/39731?show=full" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cessation of arable farming</a> in the UK, for instance.</p><p>It may also reduce rainfall over the Amazon basin, impact the monsoon systems in Asia and, by bringing warm waters into the Southern Ocean, further destabilize ice in Antarctica and accelerate global sea level rise.</p>The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation has a major effect on the climate. Praetorius (2018)
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<p>At what stage, and at what rise in global temperatures, will these tipping points be reached? No one is entirely sure. It may take centuries, millennia or it could be imminent.</p><p>But as COVID-19 taught us, we need to prepare for the expected. We were aware of the risk of a pandemic. We also knew that we were not sufficiently prepared. But we didn't act in a meaningful manner. Thankfully, we have been able to fast-track the production of vaccines to combat COVID-19. But there is no vaccine for climate change once we have passed these tipping points.</p><p><a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2021" target="_blank">We need to act now on our climate</a>. Act like these tipping points are imminent. And stop thinking of climate change as a slow-moving, long-term threat that enables us to kick the problem down the road and let future generations deal with it. We must take immediate action to reduce global warming and fulfill our commitments to the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Paris Agreement</a>, and build resilience with these tipping points in mind.</p><p>We need to plan now to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, but we also need to plan for the impacts, such as the ability to feed everyone on the planet, develop plans to manage flood risk, as well as manage the social and geopolitical impacts of human migrations that will be a consequence of fight or flight decisions.</p><p>Breaching these tipping points would be cataclysmic and potentially far more devastating than COVID-19. Some may not enjoy hearing these messages, or consider them to be in the realm of science fiction. But if it injects a sense of urgency to make us respond to climate change like we have done to the pandemic, then we must talk more about what has happened before and will happen again.</p><p>Otherwise we will continue playing Jenga with our planet. And ultimately, there will only be one loser – us.</p>By John R. Platt
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