A solar 'superstorm' is coming and we'll only get 30-minute warning

Not sure if this one was posted but yet another reminder about the solar storm. Nobody can accurately predict as per when it might hit neverthtless, its something that we forget with our busy lives all the while as we become more and more dependant on the electronics.

It is inevitable that an extreme solar storm – caused by the Sun ejecting billions of tonnes of highly-energetic matter travelling at a million miles an hour – will hit the Earth at some time in the near future, but it is impossible to predict more than about 30 minutes before it actually happens, a team of engineers has warned.

Solar superstorms are estimated to occur once every 100 or 200 years, with the last one hitting the Earth in 1859.

LINK

Maybe they know it may be coming I saw this on the BBC website..

www.bbc.co.uk...

reply to post by hp1229


See this is strange as today on the radio (bbc radio 2) they were talking about a college\university had done a study of the UK and deemed that it would not be totally crippled if there was a huge EMP genrated by the sun....

Chances are that most people won't get the warning in that 30 minutes. I need time to wrap my xbox in aluminium foil.

reply to post by SpearMint


Wouldn't a microwave do? honest question I have an old microwave and I thought of putting my backup hardrive etc in it just in case.

Originally posted by hp1229
Not sure if this one was posted but yet another reminder about the solar storm. Nobody can accurately predict as per when it might hit neverthtless, its something that we forget with our busy lives all the while as we become more and more dependant on the electronics.

It is inevitable that an extreme solar storm – caused by the Sun ejecting billions of tonnes of highly-energetic matter travelling at a million miles an hour – will hit the Earth at some time in the near future, but it is impossible to predict more than about 30 minutes before it actually happens, a team of engineers has warned.

Solar superstorms are estimated to occur once every 100 or 200 years, with the last one hitting the Earth in 1859.

LINK

This is THE MOST IRRESPONSIBLE story i have ever seen coming out of the UK.
The story quotes " a team of engineers".
30 minutes?
Try a damn Google search!
The Carrington Event CME took ..............17 HOURS .....to reach Earth.
Check Wikipedia.
The SDO will give us all a heads up IMMEDIATELY.
We can shutdown and start the cool down procedure of all nuclear power plants right away.

Someone needs to get fired for writing this article and spreading disinformation.
A 1st year journalist student would have written a more honest article.
No offense to the OP. It's not your fault.

Originally posted by boymonkey74
reply to post by SpearMint

 

Wouldn't a microwave do? honest question I have an old microwave and I thought of putting my backup hardrive etc in it just in case.

I think so, Microwaves act a bit like a Faraday cage but in reverse (they keep it in) so in theory it should work. Don't take my word for it though.

No need to go that crazy folks, to protect any and all electronic devices simple unplug them, same with your car just turn off the engine…the real issue is the very high probability of a satellite being knocked out of its orbit or destroyed totally depending on which one goes down could mean some serious outages for many things such as cell phones, TV stations or any other communication type devices. The odds of a total grid outage is so small yet something to prepare for just incase, if this was to happen the estimates range from a couple of months to a few years before total restoration of the power grid, repeat again super small chance of this happening and is a worse case scenario.

UNPLUG just turning it off may not prevent damage to electronics as a surge can still occur.
Thank you.

reply to post by TauCetixeta

Check Wikipedia.

Wiki is not a reliable source.

Just sayin'....

The article is saying that we would have a 30 minute warning before it ejects, not a 30 minute warning of it hitting the earth.

Originally posted by daryllyn
reply to post by TauCetixeta

 

Check Wikipedia.

Wiki is not a reliable source.

Just sayin'....

99% of the time Wikipedia is reliable. The best thing about Wikipedia is that it provides references and citations, check them.


It doesn't specify whether it's 30 minutes before it actually ejects, it says before it "happens" which I interpret as 30 mins before it hits Earth. I don't know if it's even possible to predict it before it ejects.

Originally posted by daryllyn
reply to post by TauCetixeta

 

Check Wikipedia.

Wiki is not a reliable source.

Just sayin'....

The article is saying that we would have a 30 minute warning before it ejects, not a 30 minute warning of it hitting the earth.

edit on 7-2-2013 by daryllyn because: (no reason given)

Oh , really?
Do you have a link that states that the Carrington Event CME arrived at Earth sooner than
17 hours???

So the UK journalist knows a "team of engineers" that can predict a CME " before" it
ejects from our sun?

Distance = Rate X Time

Don't be lazy. Do the math.

Just unplugging your device is not enough to protect it form an EMP. The EMP will genereate a huge surge of energy in any and all circuits it hits whetehre they are pugged in or not. The faraday cage is the only way to protect your electronics. It works by diverting the energy around your device and grounding it before it can damage the circuits. I hadn't thought of using a microwave as one, interesting idea. I did see a low cost faraday cage made out of a metal trash can that seemed to work, so it does not have to be an overly complicated structure.

Originally posted by boymonkey74
reply to post by SpearMint

 

Wouldn't a microwave do? honest question I have an old microwave and I thought of putting my backup hardrive etc in it just in case.

No need, just turn the power off - buttons, switches, sockets and at the fuse box. It is much simpler!

ETA:

Borracho, that's why you need to physically unplug isn't it? But once there is a clear disconnect between power source and appliance, there is no current to be fried electronically is there? I may be wrong there but that has always been my understanding......

reply to post by boymonkey74


Nobody knows if it is coming or not. There is just a higher chance of it happening in a solar maximum.

Originally posted by Waldy
reply to post by boymonkey74

 

Nobody knows if it is coming or not. There is just a higher chance of it happening in a solar maximum.

Have you checked out our sun at the Solar Dynamics Observatory?
Solar activity is declining. Our sun appears to be in a coma.
There are beautiful coronal loops everywhere but only rare solar flares & CMEs
shooting out.

reply to post by TauCetixeta

Do you have a link that states that the Carrington Event CME arrived at Earth sooner than 17 hours???

That is not what I was saying. They monitor sunspots and make calculations. Based on the calculations, they can predict it to a degree. We have a 10% chance of an M class flare today. I never said anything about the time it would take for a CME to reach the earth.

So the UK journalist knows a "team of engineers" that can predict a CME " before" it ejects from our sun?

They forecast space weather all the time.

Space weather alerts

More space weather

They can predict activity by tracking sunspots. The predictions might not always be exactly accurate, much like weather forecasts for earth.

Worst case scenario, full frontal assault...my prediction.

Communications and power grid knocked out nationwide. Millions of homes and businesses on fire at the
point of electrical connection to the grid. Standstill traffic everywhere, A run on food supplies, chaos
and looting as alarms fail, police vehicles fail, and government services fail.

Faraday cages will protect your electronics, but with no electrical grid or working satellites it will
be awhile before that preparation will help you. Most vehicles will not run without repair and there will be
a stoppage in the supply line from farm to store. People will be stranded...older cars that operate
and bicycles will sell for many times their value, and those guns we use to protect ourselves
will be very valuable as well....

reply to post by daryllyn


Fear sells newspapers.
I think this UK journalist sat down at his computer and made up a "30 minute warning".
He also created a "team of engineers" that do not exist.

This story belongs in the National Enquirer.

reply to post by borracho

Just unplugging your device is not enough to protect it form an EMP. The EMP will genereate a huge surge of energy in any and all circuits it hits whetehre they are pugged in or not.

Though it is similar to the E3 phase of an actual EMP, a solar induced geomagnetic event is not an EMP. The fluctuations of the Earth's magnetic field cause induced currents in long conductors (like power lines). These low frequency currents cause big problems for transformers when they occur, this is what causes grid failure. Electronic devices would only be affected if plugged into the grid, you can produce a greater induced current in your iphone than that of a geomagnetic storm by waving a magnet over it.

www.lund.irf.se...

Originally posted by Flavian

Originally posted by boymonkey74
reply to post by SpearMint

 

Wouldn't a microwave do? honest question I have an old microwave and I thought of putting my backup hardrive etc in it just in case.

No need, just turn the power off - buttons, switches, sockets and at the fuse box. It is much simpler!

ETA:

Borracho, that's why you need to physically unplug isn't it? But once there is a clear disconnect between power source and appliance, there is no current to be fried electronically is there? I may be wrong there but that has always been my understanding......

edit on 7-2-2013 by Flavian because: (no reason given)

Throwing the main breaker of your house will effectively do the trick by cutting everything off from the electrical grid outside the house.

However, having an appliance plugged in to a socket, the electrical lines leading from your breaker box to the socket act as an antena which would be subject to transmitting/conducting the EMP if I am not mistaken.

So unplugging the appliance is the best way to go.