Posted on 08/27/2010 8:55:30 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
Melbourne, Aug 26 (ANI): Astronomers are predicting that a massive solar storm, much bigger in potential than the one that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this month, is to strike our planet in 2012 with a force of 100 million hydrogen bombs.
Several US media outlets have reported that NASA was warning the massive flare this month was just a precursor to a massive solar storm building that had the potential to wipe out the entire planet's power grid.
Despite its rebuttal, NASA's been watching out for this storm since 2006 and reports from the US this week claim the storms could hit on that most Hollywood of disaster dates - 2012.
Similar storms back in 1859 and 1921 caused worldwide chaos, wiping out telegraph wires on a massive scale. The 2012 storm has the potential to be even more disruptive.
"The general consensus among general astronomers (and certainly solar astronomers) is that this coming Solar maximum (2012 but possibly later into 2013) will be the most violent in 100 years," News.com.au quoted astronomy lecturer and columnist Dave Reneke as saying.
"A bold statement and one taken seriously by those it will affect most, namely airline companies, communications companies and anyone working with modern GPS systems.
(Excerpt) Read more at in.news.yahoo.com ...
Whoops! and Thanks KoRn!
I've heard of the N-bomb but what's an M-bomb?
HMMMMMMM
“....When its my time to die, then so be it.......
Eliminate the fear of death and welcome to joys of life....”
Amen! And thanks for saying that!
Come on now, 100M of anything is so old school. We are in to trillions and trillions of anything now. ;-)
They can't even correctly predict when the next sunspot cycle will start.
There will be at least “...a hundred gigawatts!”
I about fell out of my chair laughing...here is the thank you card I photoshopped up for them the following week:
(We got you covered...:)
(NOTE: I hope it is okay to mention any subject having to do with Mel Gibson...:)
Your post reminded me of one of my favorite dialog scenes...In the M. Night Shyamalan movie “Signs” Mel Gibson plays Graham Hess, a former Episcopal priest who left the faith because his wife was killed in an auto accident, and as a result, he lost his faith in God. He has this conversation with his younger brother Merrill Hess played by Joaquim Phoenix as they sit on the couch watching historic television coverage of bright lights, obviously aliens whose intentions are unknown, hovering over major cities all around the world:
MERRILL HESS (YOUNGER BROTHER): “Some people are probably thinking this is the end of the world.”
GRAHAM HESS (FORMER PRIEST): “That’s true.”
MERRILL HESS: “Do you think it could be?”
GRAHAM HESS: “Yes.”
“MERRILL HESS: “How can you say that?”
GRAHAM HESS: “That wasn’t the answer you wanted?”
MERRILL HESS: “Couldn’t you pretend to be like you used to be? Give me some comfort.” (note: Merrill wants him to be like the priest he used to be)
GRAHAM HESS: “People break down into two groups when they experience something lucky. Group number one sees it as more than luck, more than coincidence. They see it as a sign...evidence that there is someone up there watching out for them. Group number two sees it as just pure luck, a happy turn of chance. I’m sure the people in group number two are looking at those lights in a very suspicious way. For them, the situation isn’t...could be bad, could be good. But deep down, they feel that whatever happens, they’re on their own. And that fills them with fear. Yeah, there are those people. But there’s a whole lot of people in the group number one. When they see those lights, they’re looking at a miracle. And deep down, they feel that whatever’s going to happen, there’ll be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope. See, what you have to ask yourself is, what kind of person are you? Are you the kind who sees signs, sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or look at the question this way...is it possible that there are no coincidences?”
MERRILL HESS: “I was at this party once. I’m on the couch with Randa McKinney. She was just sitting there looking beautiful, staring at me. I go to lean in and kiss her...and I realize I have gum in my mouth. So I turn, take out the gum, stuff it in a paper cup next to the sofa, and turn around. Randa McKinney throws up all over herself. I knew the second it happened it was a miracle. I could have been kissing her when she threw up. That would have scarred me for life. I may never have recovered. I’m a miracle man. Those lights are a miracle.”
GRAHAM HESS: “There you go.”
MERRILL HESS: “So, which type are you?”
GRAHAM HESS: “Do you feel comforted?”
MERRILL HESS: “Yeah, I do.”
GRAHAM HESS: “Then what does it matter? I never told you the last words that Colleen said before they let her die. She said, “See.” Then her eyes glazed a bit. And then she said, “Swing away.” You know why she said that? Because the nerve endings in her brain were firing as she died, and some random memory of us at one of your baseball games just popped into her head. There is no one watching out for us, Merrill. We are all on our own.”
It’s pretty much a matter of when. That could be this time around or next, or next. But these are regular events that vary in magnitude from bad to “oh, shiite”.
One in ‘89 caused the Quebec Blackout and could have easily cascaded much worse. Since then we’ve built an even great electromagnetic tech pyramid.
What’s perplexing is not that these things do and will happen, but that as we’ve built the system they weren’t taken into account. Either with harden systems or some backup plan. This would seem basic engineering.
I have no idea what the cost would be, but to build such a great deal of necessary parts of civilization that you know is very vulnerable and will likely get zapped without consideration for WTSHF...
All true and known by some for quite some time.
We are still pondering how to handle it...
The world is not going to end. We are going to see lots of Aurora Borealis. I for one cannot wait!
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