Can solar flares and sunspots affect Earth?
 A streamer of hot gas that is hundreds of thousands of miles long erupts from the surface of the Sun in this image from the SOHO spacecraft.
A more direct case can be made, however, for solar flares, which often cause quite a bit of terrestrial turmoil. These brief, intense explosions of high-energy particles and radiation from the Sun have been responsible at various times for frying the circuitry of artificial satellites, disrupting radio and television broadcasts, and bringing down the entire power grid of Quebec. Because of their proximity to the northern magnetic pole, which guides the particle streams down to Earth over the Arctic, Canada and the United States find themselves particularly susceptible to solar-flare disruptions. Flares also trigger brighter, more extensive aurorae that may be visible from the southern United States. A considerable amount of effort has been directed toward predicting and detecting these events.
For the person on the street, however, solar flares and sunspots generally have little impact. It's only the rare, extremely large flare that causes extensive electronic disruptions.
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