Another "Carrington event"

Personally I think we are about due for another reunion of the cast of 'Dynasty'. I'm curious to see if Linda Evans can still get the job done.

A bad sunspot cycle would be create major problems down here on Earth, but end of all civilization bad? Probably not. A lot of the geophysical risk studies that have been done on this phenomenon suggest that its effects would be limited to the electric power grid for the same physical reasons that it was limited to just telegraph lines in 1859, when John Carrington first noticed this. The physics of this event itself has nothing to do with electromagnetic pulses, so there will be no "frying" of computer chips, as has been posited in other sources. Its action involves plasma, not electromagnetic radiation, which is a threat to computers and other electronics. Which Northern or Southern hemisphere territory is "zapped" by a solar flare will depend on who's facing the sun (i.e. during daylight hours) several hours after the flare is emitted and when the coronal mass ejection plasma charged particles reach Earth. It also depends on which season the flare gets emitted, since tha... Read more

In 1859, 33-year-old Richard Carrington, described as one of the top "solar astronomers," was observing sunspots when he witnessed a massive Coronal Mass Ejection (solar superstorm) pointed directly at the earth which resulted in a humongous EMP, frying all electrical equipment (telegraph wires actually caught on fire). What would happen if such an event were to happen today? First of all, all satellites would be toast. Transformers would be destroyed. Electrical appliances would melt. Our entire grid would be GONE. These Coronal Mass Ejections do not happen very frequently, usually only during intense sunspot activity. But guess what? The sun is coming out of its 11 year dormant cycle, the quietest it has been for over 100 years, and scientists are saying the next sunspot maximum will be next year, and it's predicted to be a doozy. One must keep in mind the recent events in Japan; what would happen if every nuclear plant in the US went offline? Most have only enough diesel fuel to ... Read more