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This article does not read quite right, the earths protection is from its magnetic field not from the solar winds, indeed the earths magnetic field protects the

• qbrass 10y ago
  It's both. Planets without a magnetic field like Venus still have a magnetosphere caused by the planet moving through the solar winds. Basically the charged particles of the solar winds hit the planet, causing a difference in potential between the sunward face of the planet and the path it just made through the solar winds. Since Earth has it's own magnetosphere, the solar winds are an added bonus. What this article is saying is that since there's a lull in solar activity to keep the charge up, this extra protection won't be there if we hit a solar flare.