How a solar storm two years ago nearly caused a catastrophe on Earth

WaPo ^ | July 23 at 3:48 pm | Jason Samenow

[dfwgator]

I’ll always remember this excerpt from Connections, this really brought it home..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKELMR6wACw

[Bratch]

Analysts believe that a direct hit … could cause widespread power blackouts

I believe I'm going to pick the winning lottery number which could lead to a life of luxury.

But I'm not planning on it.

[Starstruck]

According to a study by the National Academy of Sciences, the total economic impact could exceed $2 trillion or 20 times greater than the costs of a Hurricane Katrina

That wouldn't even began to cover the cost of the destruction that would take place after the event.

[tanknetter]

The cities will burn themselves out very, very quickly. Unfortunately there’ll be no TV for the rest of us to watch it happen.

[Daffynition]

Those darn Amish again.

Mules are feeling left out.

[cripplecreek]

You underestimate the amount of common knowledge exists out here.

I may not have all the knowledge to build a generator but I understand the principles better than most people living in 1900 and its actually what I consider to be common knowledge. At the same time I have a neighbor with serious real world experience in both mechanical and electrical engineering.

I’m not a pilot but I understand the basic principles of flight well enough to put the Wright brothers decades ahead of where they were.

I’m not a biologist but I know that evil spirits don’t cause disease.

[The Cajun]

No way of telling what a CME induced power spike would, in reality, do.

Lots of *load* (millions of devices) hanging on power lines, each one an eventual path to ground.

I would think that the spike induced in an unloaded power line compared to a loaded power line would be quite different in amplitude.

[BenLurkin]

I predict that the Millenials will turn into cold blooded murderers.

[laplata]

Originally heard about this on Coast to Coast, it is deadly serious. If we had an event like what happened in the 1860’s it would seriously cripple us for many years.

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I heard that, too. Scary.

[FreedomPoster]

And have water purification equipment on hand. Time to buy a Big Berkey or similar.

[laplata]

Yep. Withdrawal would be tough on the texters, etc.

[NonValueAdded]

I suggest an experiment: an EMP over, oh, say Gaza or perhaps Mosul, maybe Tehran. Let’s measure the effects and repeat as necessary to accumulate the necessary data. OK, forget Mosul; ISIS is already hard at work moving them back to the 6th century, they don’t need the help.

Of the following three things, which is more likely to occur within our lifetime: 1) Global Warming catastrophe, 2) CME strike on mother erf, 3) Nuclear Winter?

If you didn’t say 3, you’re not paying attention.

[DBrow]

From Sam Glasstone’s book:

https://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/effects/eonw_11.pdf#zoom=100

[laplata]

I have been assured by a number of knowledgeable FReepers that there is no such thing as EMP or CME its all just a gimmick to raise money for studies.

One told me if there was such a thing as EMP because the lightening is the same thing and it doesn’t knock all the power out.

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They’re in some kind of stupid denial.

Thanks for all you do, Kartographer.

[laplata]

I predict that the Millenials will turn into cold blooded murderers.

---

Yep!

And I predict many Gun Grabbers will kiss up to Gun Owners.

[IronJack]

More alarmist hogwash.

[tanknetter]

I know people talk a lot about the Fortschen book (One Second After), but there’s a really neat series of alt history/scifi novels that started with “1632” by Eric Flint that are worth the read.

The first book was done on a lark, plot was that a circa 1999 West Virginia coal mining town gets picked up and thrown back in time to Central Germany in the middle of the Thirty Years War. Basically Rednecks save the world by pitting modern firearms etc against arquebusses and pikes.

But the book really took off, and spurred a whole slew of follow ons that deal with the impact, and particularly the technological impact, of the knowlege and skills the West Virginians brought back with them.

The publisher (Baen) even has a dedicated tech section on their internet discussion site, with a LOT of not only STEM types, but also basement/garage hobbyists contributing ideas to ways that the knowledge available in a small modern day town could be applied to advance the technology environment of the mid-17th Century.

Really fascinating stuff, also very easy to lose hours and hours reading through.

[unlearner]

“I’m not a biologist but I know that evil spirits don’t cause disease.”

There are Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, and many others who believe evil spirits exist and can cause illnesses. Being a biologist or even a medical doctor does not preclude one from such a belief.

There are many Christian missionaries who are medical doctors and have extensive, first-hand experience with both natural illnesses and those with spiritual causes.

In the Bible, Jesus healed those who were sick from natural maladies as well as those afflicted with evil spirits. Some of these had physical manifestations which mimicked natural illnesses such as being crippled, deaf or mute.

The existence of these things does not depend on anyone’s belief in them.

[ansel12]

The Kindle version is free at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/1632-Ring-Fire-Eric-Flint-ebook/dp/B00BEQLQNE/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=

[kiryandil]

Oh, please - EVERYONE KNOWS that only man can cause global or climate disruptions on this scale.

The Sun has nothing to do with anything...