Solar Storms,......Again

Jairo sent us a heads up: "Hey Urban man, Just thought you'd find this interesting, an article on Solar Storms. Stay safe, stay prepared!"

UrbanMan replies: Thanks Jairo. We would be remiss if we didn't mention it here on UrbanSurvivalSkills.com especially before this coming weekend as we are supposed to see the strongest solar storm since 2005. Although I don't remember that one hampering us much. Apparently some commercial airlines had to re-route some planned flights that were flying to close to the North Pole where the stronger aspects of the solar storms were projecting.

The solar storm according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center should not affect much, other than possibly disrupting some communications. The radiation threat could be a concern for those of us who have abnormally higher levels of radiation due to our jobs or past exposure. I think this will be much ado about nothing. This is what mb.com is saying about the coming solar storm:

The sun is bombarding Earth with radiation from the biggest solar storm in more than six years with more to come from the fast-moving eruption.

The solar flare occurred at about 11 p.m. EST Sunday and will hit Earth with three different effects at three different times. The biggest issue is radiation, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado.

The radiation is mostly a concern for satellite disruptions and astronauts in space. It can cause communication problems for polar-traveling airplanes, said space weather center physicist Doug Biesecker.

Radiation from Sunday’s flare arrived at Earth an hour later and will likely continue through Wednesday. Levels are considered strong but other storms have been more severe. There are two higher levels of radiation on NOAA’s storm scale – severe and extreme – Biesecker said. Still, this storm is the strongest for radiation since May, 2005.

The radiation – in the form of protons – came flying out of the sun at 93 million miles per hour.

“The whole volume of space between here and Jupiter is just filled with protons and you just don’t get rid of them like that,” Biesecker said. That’s why the effects will stick around for a couple days.

NASA’s flight surgeons and solar experts examined the solar flare’s expected effects and decided that the six astronauts on the International Space Station do not have to do anything to protect themselves from the radiation, spokesman Rob Navias said.

A solar eruption is followed by a one-two-three punch, said Antti Pulkkinen, a physicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and Catholic University.

First comes electromagnetic radiation, followed by radiation in the form of protons.

Then, finally the coronal mass ejection – that’s the plasma from the sun itself – hits. Usually that travels at about 1 or 2 million miles per hour, but this storm is particularly speedy and is shooting out at 4 million miles per hour, Biesecker said.

It’s the plasma that causes much of the noticeable problems on Earth, such as electrical grid outages. In 1989, a solar storm caused a massive blackout in Quebec. It can also pull the northern lights further south.

But this coronal mass ejection seems likely to be only moderate, with a chance for becoming strong, Biesecker said. The worst of the storm is likely to go north of Earth.

Geo-Magnetic Storm Warning

Early Autumn Geomagnetic Storm reported by the NOAA......

A Geomagnetic Storm, now at the G2 (Moderate) level and now forecast to reach the G3 (Strong) level began following a shock arrival today (Sept 26) at 1237Z (8:37am, Eastern). This storm is a result of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that erupted from the Sun on Saturday morning.

Customers who may be affected, power grid operators, satellite operators, commercial airlines, etc., have been notified and are taking appropriate actions to minimize any adverse impacts.

This is still early in the storm, waiting for the predicted higher levels of activity to occur and no impacts have yet been reported to SWPC – these will be contained in a For The Record that will follow this event at its completion.

This can consider this a near miss because we’re only seeing the flanks of the CME. If this one had been headed directly at the Earth, then severe (G4) to extreme (G5) storming would have been likely.

Also, the storm duration will be limited to about 12 hours, rather than the 24-36 hours that a direct hit could cause.

The active region responsible for the CME is moving into a more geo-effective position and will remain capable of sending more activity our way for several days. In the past 24 hours, a slight decrease in the frequency of activity has been noted, but the region remains capable of emitting strong storms.

The most likely locations for aurora from this storm are Europe and Asia , but activity could persist long enough for North American viewers. The maps below show likely visibility of aurora keyed to Green (G1), Yellow (G3), and Red (G5).

Urban Survival Planning - Collapse Catalyst: Solar Storms

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com was one of the early groups that discounted the potential for Solar Storms to wreck havoc on our infrastructure. However, after having reviewed several sources concerning the potential for solar storms to precipitate a infrastructure disaster, we now think we have to take the threat seriously.

Analysis of the Threat:

Source: http://www.prisonplanet.com/massive-solar-storm-to-hit-earth-in-2012-with-force-of-100m-bombs.html

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 (August 2010) 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.




Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0609/Solar-storms-to-erupt-soon.-What-will-be-the-impact-on-Earth

The sun is about to get a lot more active, which could have ill effects on Earth. So to prepare, top sun scientists met Tuesday (8 June 2010) to discuss the best ways to protect Earth's satellites and other vital systems from the coming solar storms. Solar storms occur when sunspots on our star erupt and spew out flumes of charged particles that can damage power systems. The sun's activity typically follows an 11-year cycle, and it looks to be coming out of a slump and gearing up for an active period.

"The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity," said Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division. "At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms. The intersection of these two issues is what we're getting together to discuss."

People of the 21st century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. But smart power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity. A major solar storm could cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina, warned the National Academy of Sciences in a 2008 report, "Severe Space Weather Events—Societal and Economic Impacts."


Source: http://www.solutionsfromscience.com/

John Kappenman and other experts have discovered a shocking secret of the sun; a solar cycle that produces magnetic storms so powerful they can literally turn our electric grid into a giant antenna, funneling enough power down the lines to fry sensitive and critical components like transformers.

And when those transformers go, experts say it may take as long as 10 years to replace them all. That's because there are only a few firms-mostly foreign-that make these sensitive and expensive grid components, and even more worrisome, there's already a 2-3 year waiting list.

Unfortunately, the protective bill passed by the US House of Representatives has been hijacked in the Senate and is unlikely to be passed in its original form, leaving our national infrastructure naked and defenseless. This means that when the electromagnetic storm hits, and experts agree it is a matter of when, not 'if', the backbone of our electrical system will be fried.

Threat Counter-Measures:

Assumptions – power solutions of a total collapse of the electrical grid cannot be primarily based on the use of fossil fuels as an collapse of the electrical grid would drastically effect all modes of transportation and therefore fuel availability as well as some percentage of crude oil previous destined for gasoline and diesel production would have to re-directed for use in power generation and heating that previous was received through the electrical grid.

How to keep the lights on when the grid goes dark:




What threat to our country is so great that the US House of Representatives voted unanimously to fund protection measures? Something so dangerous to the very foundations of our nation to unite people like socialist Dennis Kucinich and libertarian leader Ron Paul?

The answer will frighten you.

Neither you or I can do much about that, but what we can do is take some steps to keep the lights on in our own homes. Portable solar power generators like the Powerhub 1800 provide enough electricity to power your basic household needs and are separate from the grid and so therefore won't be effected by the solar storms that could ravage the grid.

The key to off-grid living and self-reliance has always been to detach ourselves from dependence on public infrastructure, and the Powerhub 1800 gives you just that; true energy independence. With two 150 watt solar panels, you can harness the power of the sun to keep your food fresh, preserve your medicines, power emergency devices and communications equipment, or just keep the lights on after dark. It's like having your own personal backyard power plant... one that will work cleanly and quietly even if the grid as we know it does collapse.

Check out Solutions from Science at the upper elft side of this page, or click here.