Scientists fear it could 'wreak havoc' NASA claiming that sun is walking up why they have no idea

Short answer: because the Sun’s behavior is driven by a messy, partly-hidden magnetic engine we still don’t fully understand — so when NASA and other researchers say the Sun is “waking up” they mean observed activity (sunspots, flares, CMEs, solar wind) is rising faster than models predicted, and scientists don’t yet know the deep cause or exactly how big the impacts will be. 

Here’s a clear breakdown:

What people mean by “the Sun is waking up”

Observations over the last ~15–20 years show increases in many solar activity measures (sunspots, flare counts, coronal mass ejections, and solar-wind parameters) after a long quiet spell. That’s what NASA and recent news pieces are reporting. 

Why scientists can’t say why (the “no idea” part) — the core reasons

1. The solar dynamo is complex and partly hidden. The Sun’s 3-D magnetic dynamo operates below the visible surface; we infer it from surface and heliospheric data but can’t observe the whole machine directly. Models approximate it, but the system is nonlinear and sometimes behaves unpredictably. 

2. Multiple overlapping cycles. Besides the familiar ~11-year sunspot cycle, longer cycles (e.g., ~22-year Hale cycle, ~80–100-year Gleissberg-type variations) and chaotic fluctuations can modulate activity — making it hard to map short-term rises to long-term trends. 

3. Limited baseline for extremes. We have high-quality global monitoring only for a few decades; big outliers (like the 1859 Carrington Event) are rare and hard to place in a statistical model. That increases uncertainty about probabilities and impacts. 

What “wreak havoc” could actually mean (real risks)

Satellites: damage, systems resets, shortened lifetimes, or loss of services (communications, imaging, navigation). 

Power grids: large geomagnetic storms can induce currents in long conductors and, in extreme cases, damage transformers and cause regional blackouts. 

Radio/GPS: high-frequency radio blackouts and degraded GPS/positioning accuracy can affect aviation, shipping, and timing services. 

Human health in space / polar flights: increased radiation risk for astronauts and crew/passengers on high-latitude flights. 

What agencies are doing and how they monitor it

NASA, NOAA, ESA and others run continuous monitoring (SDO, Parker Solar Probe, ACE, DSCOVR and ground networks) and issue space-weather forecasts and alerts through centers like NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. They also publish studies when long-term trends appear. 

How worried should you be? (practical perspective)

Short term: scientists are monitoring, and most day-to-day services include mitigation plans (satellites go into safe mode, grids can adjust operations). Severe, civilization-scale collapse from solar storms is low-probability but non-zero — historical events (like 1859) show big impacts are possible. 

If you want to dig deeper (recommended reading)

NASA/JPL summary of the study showing the uptick. 

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center for alerts and explanations of geomagnetic storms. 

Popular science summaries that place the news in context (Space.com, LiveScience, ScienceAlert).