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Scientists warn solar flares could disrupt power grid
NASA's depiction of a sun storm
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by Alisa Roth
Space weather scientists meet in Washington, D.C. tomorrow to discuss the potential problems of solar flares, eruptions on the sun's surface that can cause massive disruptions in the electrical power grid.
Solar flares send off little bursts of radiation that travel down to the Earth, and can impact communications systems, GPS systems, satellites, power grids, aviation interests and polar regions, according to Bill Murtagh, who works at the Space Weather Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
And he says get ready for more: Solar activity comes in cycles, and the next one starts in 2013. "It could be ugly: a storm could disrupt credit card and ATM transactions. Cell phone networks could go." According to Murtagh, the entire power grid could get zapped, which could cause trillions of dollars of damage.
W Kent Tobiska runs a company that does space weather forecasting. He says we can predict sun storms better, but it may not help. "Frankly right now, there is probably not an immediate solution, but certainly a necessity to plan for contingencies in case those kinds of things happen.
Scientists say there have been big sun storms before, but we've never been this dependent on the technology they can disrupt.
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Well fantastic. I am not going to get on either side of the religious argument here, but it does appear that you all are overlooking one very obvious fact, and that is that if we do in fact have a power outage the magnitude that is being portrayed, there WILL BE (not might be) absolute and udder chaos. Take a moment to think about hurricane Katrina, which was a very regional problem. Look at the looting, the killing, the mayhem, the overall feeling of hopelessness that those several million people experienced. Now let's put that on a much larger scale, that will affect much more people. Whether you believe in bible prophecy or not, you better believe in survival and greed and taking care of number one because you will experience it at a level you have never imagined. These natural disasters are when we find out who we really are as a species.
Solar flares are a natural phenomenon. As humans, we should learn to slow down our evergrowing dependency on technology for day-2-day life needs. Once in a while practice living without technology , i.e. similar to an earthquake drill or an emergency fire drill(you do this if you are in california).
There is a typo in my previous comment.
changed with-> without.
Solar flares are a natural phenomenon. As humans, we should learn to slow down our evergrowing dependency on technology for day-2-day life needs. Once in a while practice living without technology , i.e. similar to an earthquake drill or an emergency fire drill(you do this if you are in california).
Solar flares are a natural phenomenon. As humans, we should learn to slow down our evergrowing dependency on technology for day-2-day life needs. Once in a while practice living with technology , i.e. similar to an earthquake drill or an emergency fire drill(you do this if you are in california).
@2cent
what you say doesn't add up. You say that we are wasting our time on salvation and prayer, mening you don't believe in God... But you hope we meet out maker which tells us you believe that we will indeed meet God when we die. Your ignorant statements should be thought out before you post them. C.s lewis says, " if Christianity is false is of no importance, but if true of infinate importance. The only thing it can't be is moderately important." mathmatically, the chances of the universe being created on accident is impossible. (look up lee stroble to reference to) thus, if there is a maker, you must ask yourself what you want to do with that information. Go back to was Lewis said. If Christ is indeed Lord, nothing should be more important than what He says.
I don't see any part of this that is newsworthy, except perhaps that the Federal government is listening to the scientists. We've had problems with radio communications near every solar peak, including television broadcast, ATC, amateur radio operators.
Another thing that might be news to some is that cellular telephony uses radio waves.
Yes, we could have problems, but the forecasts I see on noaa.gov show a lower sunspot number for 2013 than for the end of 2001, the last peak.
BTW, if I were to try to decide how literally to accept the Bible, the (in)ability to spell demonstrated in this thread is very unhelpful.
Jeeez, no love for my Ghost Busters quote?
The scope of the article is implying that for every 11yr cycle of solar flare activity, this cycle will wash over the planet (as it has forever) at a time when we are so much more inured to the convenience of cell-phone, wireless internet, etc.
Due to that increasing habit we are stretching into frequency bands we never needed, or that had been used by obsolete technologies. These bands, and the technologies needed to use them, increase our exposure to service interruptions via solar flares.
So, some stuff might get friend. We should expect lots of Y2K-like behavior, not to mention random Tech businesses cashing in on a "we can protect your electronics from solar flares" theme.
Regarding air-traffic control interruptions, if a flare were so catastrophic as to fry ground based electronics, the planes may not need air traffic control, as they may in fact be busy plummeting to the ground. I'm not too familiar with whether airliners shield their electronics. I know air-force-1 is, but that ride is spoken for.
OK folks, lets not run for the panic button. The Sun has been doing what it does for billions of years. If we want to continue our quest for technological advancement and enjoy the benefits that comes with it then this is the time to remain calm. Our sciences are our best defense against Solar Storms and will be relied upon for repairing any damages that can and may occur. This will be a learning experience for we humans at this stage of our development. Our job is not to scatter like roaches when the light comes on. The best thing you might want to do right now is let your friends know that they can rely on you to keep a cool head and a positive outlook.
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