A STORM OF A DIFFERENT COLOR
Written by: Bob Metcalfe
I'll admit, this scares me a bit. I'm not being sarcastic one bit. I read an article today on Yahoo about a predicted solar storm that could occur from 2012 to 2013.
Astronomers have reason to believe that this would be one of the largest solar storms of the last 100 years. According to the article, similar storms in 1859 and 1921 caused a worldwide blackout of telegraph systems, bringing chaos even back then.
Think of this: if the low-tech world back then suffered, what would this mean for our completely technologically dependent world now? Cell phones, GPS, even power grids would be useless! These storms can knock satellites out of orbit, trip your circuit breakers, and drop planes out of the sky. Now I'm not a "this is the end of the world" type of guy, but this really is scary. Sit back in your chair right now, look around the room, and think to yourself what wouldn't work in the case of one of these storms. Let's see, our phones are gone, cell phones are done, internet disappears, computer won't work, forget about the clock, refrigerator (hey we have SOME amenities in the weather office!), the little clock radio, and oh yea the lights too. Ouch. We're back in the stone age. And we'd be velcroing little sun and cloud icons onto our green wall for the 6pm news. Wait, the news wouldn't air because that satellite for your dish is out of whack. Yikes!
I don't know how to think about this. Obviously, the media can hype things at times, but it is scary just how vulnerable our delicate infrastructure is today. I've become hooked on that new show Colony on the Discovery Channel, and now I'm going to start taking notes!
I hope you don't think I'm Mr. Doomsday. This wouldn't make for the end of the world, but I can see some huge inconveniences with problems in communications and electricity in this world, even if its for just a short time. You can bet I'll be keeping a close eye...
so this storm would cause a world wide black out only for a few minutes right??? and it might happen in 2012 when some people say the world is going to end even though scientists doubt that it will happen and i doubt it too. But this is really scary with no power like how can you tell if there is a dangerous storm coming or something else important like broadcasting hurricanes or recalls on food and a lot other things that we need to have or need to know.
ReplyDeleteSolar storms of this magnitude stem from one enormous sunspot. This prediction is based on absolutely nothing other than the fact that we're heading toward the TYPICAL solar maximum, during an abnormally low solar period. Abnormally low solar periods have been shown to lead to abnormally weak solar maximums. The sun's activity is down lower than normal already. We can't predict when a sunspot is going to form. This is a baseless prediction, in my opinion, that ranks right up there with the bogus sea level rise hysteria. It's Junk Science, Bob.
ReplyDeletefor god sake stop scaring people, what will happen will happen. live for today tomorrow never comes
ReplyDelete