[InHam] Powerful Solar Storm Could Shut Down U.S. for Months

Fri Jan 9 04:04:21 EST 2009

Hi All, 

Like the Weather Channel says "It Could Happen Tomorrow". 

Get ready by stocking up on stuff & make a plan. 

73/75 de ka9jwx, Paul Lewis Webster

John 3:16

Proud member of the;

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Long:-87.334L (-87*20'3"W)

Lat:41.4967N (41*29'48"N)

EN61HL

;-)

--- On Thu, 1/8/09, Don <KA9QJG at WOWWAY.COM> wrote:
From: Don <KA9QJG at WOWWAY.COM>
Subject: [KA9QJGREPEATERS] Powerful Solar Storm Could Shut Down U.S. for Months
To: KA9QJGREPEATERS at yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, January 8, 2009, 9:27 PM

            Got this Very Informative E-Mail from our Member Bob KA9AQZ 

Ther was a Nice Pic to but I don"t know How to Post it with the 

Messge . 

73 De Don KA9QJG 

Report: Powerful Solar Storm Could Shut Down U.S. for Months

Thursday, January 08, 2009

: 

 NASA A huge coronal mass ejection from the sun.A huge coronal mass 

ejection from the sun.

A  new study from the National Academy of Sciences outlines grim 

possibilities on Earth for a worst-case scenario solar storm.Damage 

to power grids and other communications systems could be 

catastrophic, the scientists conclude, with effects leading to a 

potential loss of governmental control of the situation.The 

prediction is based in part on major solar storm in 1859 caused 

telegraph wires to short out in the United States and Europe, 

igniting widespread fires.It was perhaps the worst in the past 200 

years, according to the new study, and with the advent of modern 

power grids and satellites, much more is at risk."A contemporary 

repetition of the [1859] event would cause significantly more 

extensive (and possibly catastrophic) social and economic 

disruptions, " the researchers conclude.• Click here to visit 

FOXNews.com' s Space Center.

'Command and control might be lost' 

When the sun is in the active phase of its 11-year cycle, it can 

unleash powerful magnetic storms that disable satellites, threaten 

astronaut safety, and even disrupt communication systems on Earth.The 

worst storms can knock out power grids by inducing currents that melt 

transformers. Modern power grids are so interconnected that a big 

space storm — the type expected to occur about once a century — could 

cause a cascade of failures that would sweep across the United 

States, cutting power to 130 million people or more in this country 

alone, the new report concludes.Such widespread power outages, though 

expected to be a rare possibility, would affect other vital 

systems."Impacts would be felt on interdependent infrastructures 

with, for example, potable water distribution affected within several 

hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; 

immediate or eventual loss of heating/air conditioning, sewage 

disposal, phone service, transportation, fuel resupply and so on," 

the report states.Outages could take months to fix, the researchers 

say. Banks might close, and trade with other countries might 

halt."Emergency services would be strained, and command and control 

might be lost," write the researchers, led by Daniel Baker, director 

of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University 

of Colorado in Boulder."Whether it is terrestrial catastrophes or 

extreme space weather incidents, the results can be devastating to 

modern societies that depend in a myriad of ways on advanced 

technological systems," Baker said in a statement released with the 

report.

Stormy pastSolar storms have had significant effects in modern time:— 

In 1989, the sun unleashed a tempest that knocked out power to all of 

Quebec, Canada.— A remarkable 2003 rampage included 10 major solar 

flares over a two-week period, knocking out two Earth-orbiting 

satellites and crippling an instrument aboard a Mars 

orbiter."Obviously, the sun is Earth's life blood," said Richard 

Fisher, director of the Heliophysics division at NASA. "To mitigate 

possible public safety issues, it is vital that we better understand 

extreme space weather events caused by the sun's activity.""Space 

weather can produce solar storm electromagnetic fields that induce 

extreme currents in wires, disrupting power lines, causing wide-

spread blackouts and affecting communication cables that support the 

Internet," the report states. "Severe space weather also produces 

solar energetic particles and the dislocation of the Earth's 

radiation belts, which can damage satellites used for commercial 

communications, global positioning and weather forecasting. "Rush to 

prepareThe race is on for better forecasting abilities, as the next 

peak in solar activity is expected to come around 2012.While the sun 

is in a lull now, activity can flare up at any moment, and severe 

space weather — how severe, nobody knows — will ramp up a year or two 

before the peak.Some scientists expect the next peak to bring more 

severe events than other recent peaks."A catastrophic failure of 

commercial and government infrastructure in space and on the ground 

can be mitigated through raising public awareness, improving 

vulnerable infrastructure and developing advanced forecasting 

capabilities, " the report states. "Without preventive actions or 

plans, the trend of increased dependency on modern space-weather 

sensitive assets could make society more vulnerable in the 

future."The report was commissioned and funded by NASA. Experts from 

around the world in industry, government and academia participated. 

It was released this week

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