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[NEWS]☛ Solar Storm could hit Earth

What would u do without electricity?

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Get ready for a 'global Katrina': Biggest ever solar storm could cause power cuts which last for MONTHS

• Earth is overdue a solar storm as the sun enters its most active period
  

The world is overdue a ferocious 'space storm' that could knock out communications satellites, ground aircraft and trigger blackouts - causing hundreds of billions of pounds of damage, scientists say.

Astronomers today warned that mankind is now more vulnerable to a major solar storm than at any time in history - and that the planet should prepare for a global Katrina-style disaster.

A massive eruption of the sun would send waves of radiation and charged particles to Earth, damaging the satellite systems used for synchronising computers, airline navigation and phone networks.

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Imminent: The world got a taster of the sun's explosive power last week with the strongest solar eruption in five years (white flash, centre) sent a torrent of charged plasma hurtling towards the world. Scientists believe we are overdue a ferocious solar storm.

• If the storm is powerful enough it could even crash stock markets and cause power cuts that last weeks or months, experts told the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
  
  
• The chances of a disruption from space are getting stronger because the sun is entering the most active period of its 11 to 12-year natural cycle.
  
  
• The world got a taster of the sun's explosive power last week when the strongest solar eruption in five years sent a torrent of charged plasma hurtling towards the world at 580 miles per second.
  
  
• The storm created spectacular aurorae and disrupted radio communications.
  
  
• Professor Sir John Beddington, the government's chief scientific adviser, said: 'The issue of space weather has got to be taken seriously. We've had a relatively quiet period of space weather - but we can't expect that quiet period to continue.
  
  
• 'At the same time over that period the potential vulnerability of our systems has increased dramatically, whether it is the smart grid in our electricity systems or the ubiquitous use of GPS in just about everything we use these days.
  
  
• 'The situation has changed. We need to be thinking about the ability both to categorise and explain and give early warning when particular types of space weather are likely to occur.'
  

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Threat: Rio de Janeiro during a blackout in 2009. A solar storm could cause global power cuts for months, scientists have warned.

Solar storms are caused by massive explosions on the sun.

The explosions release waves of X-rays and ultraviolet radiation which smash into the Earth within minutes, disrupting radio signals and damaging the electronics of satellites.

They are followed ten to 20 minutes later by a burst of energetic particles which cause even more havoc with satellites - and then 15 to 30 hours later by supercharged plasma which collides with Earth's magnetic field.

The plasma create the aurora - or Northern Lights - and can induce electrical currents in power lines and cables.

Jane Lubchenco, head of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said: 'This is not a matter of if, it is simply a matter of when and how big.

'The last time we had a maximum in the solar cycle, about 10 years ago, the world was a very different place. Cell phones are now ubiquitous; they were certainly around but we didn't rely on them for so many different things.

'Many things that we take for granted today are so much more prone to the process of space weather than was the case in the last solar maximum.'

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Communications satellites would be knocked out by a solar storm, causing widespread chaos on Earth and hundreds of billions of pounds of damage.

got u a rep star =D

---------- Post added at 09:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:41 AM ----------



true, we've seen how much problems and panic comes from just a bit of snow.

Without electricity, there would be global panic, shortage of fuel/food etc...

Derek i got some more info,
point with their prediction, then my world will end in 2012. Why you ask? Well, NASA is foreseeing that the year 2012 will bring solar storms and flares, the likes of which Earth hasn’t seen since 1958. If we’ve been through this before, why am I so worried about my world ending? Because my world revolves around cell phones and similar gadgets – toys that were not around in the 50′s. While poodle-skirt wearing adolescents of yester-year went about their day unaffected by solar flares, my world will be filled with chaos and havoc when I can’t get any gsm reception or check the local weather on my phone. The horror! Can you see it? Millions of people will be left with no way to instantly text message their friends abut the night’s plans, and will be left wondering what the weather will be, or will be lost for directions to the nearest Starbuck’s. Oh the humanity!

Scientists are saying that the Sun’s surface is eerily devoid of activity at the moment. It’s “Like the quiet before a storm,” says NASA. When the sun’s surface quiets down, we can expect an incredible burst of activity in the form of communications disrupting solar flares and storms. This is referred to as a maxima in an 11-year cycle of sunspots. But there is one glimmer of hope. Scientists are unsure how to predict these maxima and admit that the upcoming maxima in 2012 could be as viscious as in 1958, or as meek as in 1805. We can “expect to see the first sunspots of the next cycle appear in late 2006 or 2007—and Solar Max to be underway by 2010 or 2011,” says David Hathaway of the National Space Science & Technology Center (NSSTC). So get ready or the end of the world, ya’ll! Stock those dry goods ands ammo! I’ll see you in my bunker.

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Dude, this isn't NEWs, this is OLDs

ye 2 days OLDs

ok all haters , you will see when it happens.

they have a backup generator ya know .

Thats scary derek, Ffs I've had shit loads of bad news today Lol. Thanks anyway.

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nasa warned us last year and now their warning us now.