Will The Peak Of The Solar Cycle In 2013 Produce Technology Crippling Solar Super Storms?

Will The Peak Of The Solar Cycle In 2013 Produce Technology Crippling Solar Super Storms?







Michael Snyder, Contributor
Activist Post

Our sun is becoming increasingly unstable, and most people have no idea
the complete and utter devastation that a massive solar storm could
potentially cause. A giant solar storm could potentially take out
satellites, GPS systems, electrical grids, communication networks and
pretty much anything else that runs on electricity or that relies upon
electronics. And considering how dependent our society has become on
technology, we are talking about an event that could possibly bring
about the end of the world as we know it.

Right now, solar activity is increasing as we approach the peak of
Solar Cycle 24. But the worst is yet to come. Scientists are expecting
a significant increase in coronal mass ejections and geomagnetic
disturbances as we approach the peak of this solar cycle in 2013. A
number of scientists are warning that there is a chance that we could
even see an event similar to the solar storm of 1859 that fried telegraph machines all over Europe and North America.

Other scientists are warning that our sun is starting to behave so
unusually that it is becoming very difficult to predict what may be
coming next. If our sun starts to behave even more erratically, that
could mean big trouble for all of us. If our sun fails, there is no
backup plan.

Most of us take for granted the stability of the gigantic ball of fire
that our very small planet is circling, but what if it becomes apparent
that we can’t take that for granted any longer? That can be very
frightening to think about.

Just a few years ago, there was very little activity
on the sun. Normally, activity on the sun does slow down during
non-peak times, but the years of 2008 and 2009 were unusually slow. At the time, David Hathaway of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center said that we were “witnessing something unlike anything we’ve seen in 100 years“.


But now solar activity is becoming dangerously intense as we approach
the peak of the solar cycle in 2013. One group of sunspots was
measured to be 118,681 miles wide earlier this year. According to NASA,
that would be "more than 15 Earths set end to end".

But what we have seen this year is only the beginning. Scientists
expect solar activity to really kick into high gear once we get into
2013. Just check out what Dr. Matthew Penn of the National Solar
Observatory in Arizona said earlier this year…
<blockquote>Because the sun is becoming more active, it will have an
impact on millions of people. Sunspots can cause the biggest and most
damaging space storms that occur. </blockquote><blockquote>During
the next two years, we are expecting the number of sunspots visible on
the sun to reach a maximum. We know that sunspots are the source of a
lot of space weather and solar storms, so we expect a larger number of
solar storms here at the Earth.</blockquote>Solar activity runs in
cycles, and some scientists are concerned that since solar activity got
so quiet back in 2008 and 2009 that it might mean that the coming
solar peak might be particularly intense.

The
shift in solar activity that we have witnessed over the last couple of
years has definitely been dramatic. Back in 2009, there were 260 days
without any sunspots. In 2012, there have been zero days without any
sunspots.

The following chart from spaceweather.com shows the number of days without any sunspots that we have seen since 2009…

2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)

But it isn’t just that we are seeing a lot of sunspots. We are also
seeing some truly breathtaking explosions on the sun. Just check out
this example from earlier this month…
<blockquote>A truly gigantic explosion happened on the sun
yesterday. On Nov. 16th, magnetic fields snaking halfway across the
sun’s southern hemisphere erupted in tandem, producing a prominence so
big, it doesn’t fit inside this image from NASA’s Solar Dynamics
Observatory (SDO): 'The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas
made of electrically charged hydrogen and helium,' officials with
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, which oversees the SDO mission,
explained in a description. 'The prominence plasma flows along a tangled
and twisted structure of magnetic fields generated by the sun’s
internal dynamo. An erupting prominence occurs when such a structure
becomes unstable and bursts outward, releasing the plasma.' The blast
hurled a CME into space, but the cloud does not appear to be heading for
Earth.</blockquote>If our sun becomes even more unstable, that
could dramatically affect the lives of every man, woman and child
living on the planet.

The number one thing that causes changes in our weather patterns is the sun, and the United States is just coming out of one of the worst summers of drought in U.S. history.

If solar instability plays havoc with our weather patterns and we see
dramatic crop failures all over the globe, what would that do to our
ability to feed ourselves?

And if people cannot feed themselves, would that cause societal instability all over the planet?

Perhaps an even greater concern is what would happen if a giant solar
super storm caused a massive EMP burst took out our electrical grids.

Remember, we have seen such an event before in 1859. Many scientists
warn that if a similar event happened today that it would be absolutely
catastrophic.

Even a relatively minor event could have devastating consequences for
our very vulnerable communications systems. The following is from a National Geographic article…

<blockquote>Of
particular concern are disruptions to global positioning systems
(GPS), which have become ubiquitous in cell phones, airplanes, and
automobiles, Baker said. A $13 billion business in 2003, the GPS
industry is predicted to grow to nearly $1 trillion by 2017.

In addition, Baker said, satellite communications—also essential to many daily activities—would be at risk from solar storms. </blockquote><blockquote>'Every time you purchase a gallon of gas with your credit card, that’s a satellite transaction,' he said. </blockquote><blockquote>But
the big fear is what might happen to the electrical grid, since power
surges caused by solar particles could blow out giant transformers.
Such transformers can take a long time to replace, especially if
hundreds are destroyed at once, said Baker, who is a co-author of a
National Research Council report on solar-storm risks. </blockquote><blockquote>The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s Cliver agrees: 'They don’t have a lot of these on the shelf,' he said.</blockquote>If
a very large EMP burst did take out our electrical grids, it would be a
natural disaster unprecedented in U.S. history and it would
potentially take many years to recover from such an event. The
following is from a recent New York Times article…
<blockquote>A powerful solar (or 'geomagnetic') storm has the
potential to simultaneously damage multiple transformers in the
electricity grid and perhaps even bring down large sections of it,
affecting upwards of a hundred million people in the United States for
many months, if not years. </blockquote><blockquote>These huge
transformers are expensive and difficult to replace, and not many are
stockpiled in the United States for an emergency. In the worst case,
the impact would be devastating: An outage could cost a few trillion
dollars, with full recovery taking years. Not only would parts of the
grid be compromised, but telephone networks, undersea cables,
satellites and railroads also would be affected. </blockquote><blockquote>A 2008 National Academy of Sciences study
warned that 'because of the interconnectedness of critical
infrastructures in modern society,” the “collateral effects of a
longer-term outage' would likely include 'disruption of the
transportation, communication, banking and finance systems, and
government services; the breakdown of the distribution of potable water
owing to pump failure; and the loss of perishable foods and medications
because of lack of refrigeration.'</blockquote>Solar storms are just like regular storms – they can range from the totally harmless to the totally catastrophic.

But if we did experience a totally catastrophic solar storm, what would that mean for all of us?
In a previous article, I asked some questions that most people have not considered…
<blockquote>What would you do if an EMP attack happened in the
middle of the winter and you suddenly were not able to heat your home
any longer? </blockquote><blockquote>What would you do if all the electronics in your car got fried and you simply could not drive anywhere? </blockquote><blockquote>What
would you do if all the supermarkets in your area shut down because
food could not be transported across the country anymore? </blockquote><blockquote>What would you do if you were suddenly unable to call your family and friends for help? </blockquote><blockquote>What would you do if you were suddenly unable to get the medicine that you needed? </blockquote><blockquote>What
would you do if your debit cards and credit cards simply did not work
any longer and you could not get any of your money out of the bank? </blockquote><blockquote>What would you do if all of these things happened all at once?</blockquote>
Most people just assume that nothing like this will ever happen.

But what if it did?

Would your family be prepared?

Over the next couple of years, conditions are going to be ideal for
solar super storms to develop which could potentially change life as we
know it in a single day.

So keep an eye on news reports about the sun.

Hopefully nothing will happen.

But if something does happen, those that have made preparations in
advance will be in the best position to survive the aftermath.

Source:-
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/11/will-peak-of-solar-cycle-in-2013.html