Posted on 10/14/2009 8:32:04 PM PDT by TaraP
Natural fluctuations in the sun's atmosphere could cause it to fire a giant plasma ball at Earth, shutting down the planet's electric grids and leading to widespread social collapse, according to a report from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
Funded by NASA, the report draws attention to naturally occurring events known as coronal mass ejections (CME), in which a ball of plasma -- the charged, high-energy particles that comprise stars -- is fired from the sun. If such a ball strikes the Earth, it could produce rapid changes in the planet's magnetic field, leading to a surge of direct current in the long-range power lines that carry electricity through modern power grids.
Modern power grids are designed to carry electricity at extremely high voltage, making them especially susceptible to this kind of magnetic disruption. What they are not designed to do, however, is carry direct current. Transformers are particularly vulnerable, and sudden influx of direct current could cause the wiring inside the devices to melt. The NAS report estimates that within 90 seconds of a plasma ball hitting the Earth's magnetic field, power would be knocked out to 130 million people in the United States alone. The same effect is likely throughout the world.
A really large storm could be a planetary disaster," said power industry analyst John Kappenman.
In the First World, where everything from transportation to food and water distribution depends on electricity, this could create a humanitarian catastrophe.
"It's just the opposite of how we usually think of natural disasters," Kappenman said. "Usually the less developed regions of the world are most vulnerable, not the highly sophisticated technological regions."
According to the report, potable water would be one of the first losses in the event of such a disaster. Because water pumping relies on electricity, people would have access to tap water only for about half a day, until the amount already in the system ran out. High-rises, which rely on water being pumped to upper floors, would lose water immediately.
All electric-powered transport would stop at once, and automobiles could only run until they ran out of gas, since the pumps at gas stations also rely on electricity. This would quickly cause the shelves at stores to run bare, since the modern "just-in-time" delivery method relies on restocking shelves as they run out, with minimal storage inside shops themselves.
Backup generators at places like hospitals could only run until they ran out of fuel. According to the report, this translates into 72 hours of minimal care for only the most vulnerable patients. The absence of refrigeration would cause food and many prescription drugs to quickly spoil.
The NAS report notes that a technological meltdown on this scale might be impossible to undo. Pumping natural gas or oil requires electricity, and modern transport networks are required to keep coal plants supplied. Nuclear power plants automatically shut down if the power grid fails, and cannot be turned back on until the grid is back to normal. Very few spare transformers exist, meaning that new ones would need to be manufactured to replace most of the burned-out ones. Again, the lack of industrial infrastructure would make this a major challenge.
"We're moving closer and closer to the edge of a possible disaster," said Daniel Baker, chair of the committee that produced the report.
Although the scenario may sound fantastic and unlikely, scientists warn that there have been precedents. In 1859, a CME known as the Carrington event produced auroras as far south as the equator and caused severe disruptions to the world's telegraph systems. In 1989, a direct current overload in the power grid cut off electricity to 6 million people in Quebec province, Canada. And in 2006, a fluctuation in a small part of Germany's power grid caused a cascading power failure through the wider European grid.
and
Walk Wide
Come stride the galaxies
with me
Be free
To run with the sun
Be one
Hold hands with the Universe -
& the daisy.
Nope. How about you?
Isn't it ever!
I always vacillate between being nervous about other world intelligences watching over our activities in a threatening way - to benevolent 'watchers' guarding this old planet to step in, if necc., should we reach the precipice of destroying ourselves.
I favor the last scenario for three reasons:
1: Obviously, with the millions of other planets in the Super Universe, earth cannot be the only one capable of supporting life,
2: If they're monitoring us - it seems for hundreds of y ears - they have, reasonable to assume, achieved a far superior level of intelligence, and
3: In that level, they have also conquered and evolved beyond the baser proclivities of we earthlings - who seem doomed to just repeat the cycles of ignorance, treadmill like.
So I despair a bit over us 'down here' ever growing up - and take a bit of comfort in thinking there is a benevolent, more intelligent entity, through emissaries, watching over us - call it/him/her what you will
(That's my story and I'm sticking to it ;o)...)
Ideally, I would like a propane stove, water heater, heater-heater, etc. and a generator -
I love my wood stove for two reasons - sense of security and wood stove heat is so friendly.
I remember thinking, during the 19 days without power, thanks to the ice storm, "Now, how would such a storm have affected the folks up on the farm in the 30's-40's?"
Answer: Except for it being a slippery walk to the barn and coop - quickly solved with ashes - not at all, since they weren't dependent on that thin wire to the utility pole for means of heat, water and light.
We are too complacent in our vulnerability today.
Yup....At midnight sunlight is blasting past, lighting up the lunar surface like a massive flood light, with all surround space appearing nearly black, throwing off so much light, the tiny shadows formed by the moons of Jupiter, almost 800,000 kilometers away from the sun, can easily been seen from earth, moving across it’s surface. The intensity is mind bending.
Interesting take and you’re probably aware, life on this little blue planet has come to the brink of extinction on numerous occasions. The most recent near extinction event, if the scientific community™ is to be believed, was the eruption of Toba ~75,000 years ago. Presumably, only several thousand humans lived to tell the tale, so to speak. But anyway, I’m convinced Mankind is not capable of acting rationally over the long term. We are inclined towards many of the baser instincts that take hold whenever we forget about the true Watcher of the universe; the Creator Himself.
I didn’t see Obamadanism on your list.
Bollocks!
Gooness, gracious, great balls of fire!
Shucks, you beat met to it!
bttt
I thought the Earth was going to be destroyed by Chef’s Salty Chocolate Balls...
Mr. Sun is such a hater.
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The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes:
Flood, Fire, and Famine
in the History of Civilization
by Richard Firestone,
Allen West, and
Simon Warwick-Smith
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Gods |
Thanks GeronL and Fractal Trader. |
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I just watched that episode not too long ago!
But I think it The Outer Limits?
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