Power companies prepare as solar storms set to hit Earth
 

Power companies prepare as solar storms set to hit Earth

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Snippit:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three large explosions from the Sun over the past few days have prompted U.S. government scientists to caution users of satellite, telecommunications and electric equipment to prepare for possible disruptions over the next few days.

"The magnetic storm that is soon to develop probably will be in the moderate to strong level," said Joseph Kunches, a space weather scientist at the Space Weather Prediction Center, a division of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

He said solar storms this week could affect communications and global positioning system (GPS) satellites and might even produce an aurora visible as far south as Minnesota and Wisconsin.

An aurora, called aurora borealis or the northern lights in northern latitudes, is a natural light display in the sky in the Arctic and Antarctic regions caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere.

Major disruptions from solar activity are rare but have had serious impacts in the past.

In 1989, a solar storm took down the power grid in Quebec, Canada, leaving about six million people without power for several hours.

The largest solar storm ever recorded was in 1859 when communications infrastructure was limited to telegraphs.

The 1859 solar storm hit telegraph offices around the world and caused a giant aurora visible as far south as the Caribbean Islands.

Some telegraph operators reported electric shocks. Papers caught fire. And many telegraph systems continued to send and receive signals even after operators disconnected batteries, NOAA said on its website.

A storm of similar magnitude today could cause up to $2 trillion in damage globally, according to a 2008 report by the National Research Council.

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Black Blade: "One Second After"scenario? Maybe not but could cause some serious problems for the grid and in this economy what would be a major inconvenience could become a matter of economic survival. I have also had some satellite and cell phone internet connection problems the last few days as well. I always thought keeping a few spare electronic items stored in some homemade faraday cages just in case as backup.

They sure screwed up my GPS the other night when I was out fishing, had a hell of a time getting back outa the swamp without it, found bottom a couple times, no damage done though, just scuffed a prop a little bit. Fishing was good though, limited out on crappies and got some real nice 25+lb cats. Any of you guys ever heard of a Hydra Glow fishing light? Tried out one of our sponsers lights for the first time and man I'll tell ya there great, I was thinking it was just anouther gimick to catch fisherman, but they work awsome, bit spendy but great!!! I can't wait to try them out for ice fishing, only 4 more months and I'll be out there guiding and doing tournies and kids clinics, CAN'T WAIT!!! Been doing alot of product demos at Cabellas, Dicks, and most of the other major supplyers the last couple years and will actually be getting paid for it this year. Karl I'll be in your area for a couple crappie tourneys again this year, if you want I'll keep ya posted and maybe get you out there with some of the pro curcit boys if I can quardinate it, or maybe be able to run into you at Cabellas or something. Best part is that hunting ends about 3 weeks before ice fishing, just enough time to get all the winter fishing gear together and re-rigged!!!! HE HAWWWWW!!!

Can't go wrong fishing especially 25LB catfish.

What is ,"Hydra Glow" in fishing?

Is this it?
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They run forever on a small batt too!! I used my Vexilar battery, same as an emergency light battery, and it ran continuious for over 2 days and was still going, brought the battery to a bit less than 1/2 charge.

http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploa...Sun-Stroke.jpg

Are We Prepared for a Catastrophic Solar Storm?

One of the biggest disasters we face would begin about 18 hours after the sun spit out a 10-billion-ton ball of plasma--something it has done before and is sure to do again. When the ball, a charged cloud of particles called a coronal mass ejection (CME), struck the Earth, electrical currents would spike through the power grid. Transformers would be destroyed. Lights would go out. Food would spoil and--since the entire transportation system would also be shut down--go unrestocked.

Curious about what a CME would mean for us? Check out our feature.

Within weeks, backup generators at nuclear power plants would have run down, and the electric pumps that supply water to cooling ponds, where radioactive spent fuel rods are stored, would shut off. Multiple meltdowns would ensue. “Imagine 30 Chernobyls across the U.S.,” says electrical engineer John Kappenman, an expert on the grid’s vulnerability to space weather. A CME big enough to take out a chunk of the grid is what scientists and insurers call a high-consequence, low-frequency event. Many space-weather scientists say the Earth is due for one soon. Although CMEs can strike anytime, they are closely correlated to highs in the 11-year sunspot cycle. The current cycle will peak in July 2013.

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If an big epic CME (Coronal mass ejection) and it is aimed towards us we may have up to 12-18 hours warning, if you know where to look:
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