# European Space Agency

Small Sparks, Massive Storms: ESA Identifies 'Magnetic Avalanche' as Trigger for Solar Flares

The European Space Agency reports that solar flares can be triggered by a cascade of tiny, rapid magnetic disturbances that amplify into a "magnetic avalanche." This emergent mechanism reframes flare onset as a scale-crossing process and could improve space-weather forecasting if validated and incorporated into monitoring systems.