That’s according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, which said pilots reported radio interference across the United States between noon and 2PM ET on December 14th. The current solar cycle is stronger than expected, making disruptions like this more likely, but the NOAA forecasts an October 2024 peak, a year earlier than originally predicted. Anyway, here’s a NASA GIF of the eruption.
A flare will disrupt radio.
A coronal massage ejection causes those. They are associated with flares, but consist of charged particles that travel much slower than the speed of light.
A CME can cause aurora, radio blackouts, pipeline and power line current induction, satellite problems and worst scenario destruction of transformers.
The Earth’s magnetic field flipping is unrelated and appears to be roughly periodic.