2012 Sun storm to hit with 'force of 100m bombs'

[Hum]

AFTER 10 years of comparative slumber, the sun is waking up - and it's got astronomers on full alert.

This week several US media outlets reported that NASA was warning the massive flare that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this month was just a precursor to a massive solar storm building that had the potential to wipe out the entire planet's power grid.

"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," astronomy lecturer and columnist Dave Reneke said.

"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.

"They can even trip circuit breakers and knock out orbiting satellites, as has already been done this year."

No one really knows what effect the 2012-2013 Solar Max will have on today's digital-reliant society.

Dr Richard Fisher, director of NASA?s Heliophysics division, told Mr Reneke the super storm would hit like "a bolt of lightning?, causing catastrophic consequences for the world?s health, emergency services and national security unless precautions are taken.

NASA said that a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a similar storm occurred today, it could cause ?$1 to 2 trillion in damages to society's high-tech infrastructure and require four to 10 years for complete recovery?.

Staff at the Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado, which hosted the exercise, said with our reliance on satellite technology, such an event could hit the Earth with the magnitude of a global hurricane or earthquake.

The reason for the concern comes as the sun enters a phase known as Solar Cycle 24.

All the alarming news building around the event is being fuelled by two things.

The first is a book by disaster expert Lawrence E. Joseph, Guilty of Apocalypse: The Case Against 2012, in which he claims the "Hurricane Katrina for the Earth" may cause unprecedented planetwide upheaval.

The second is a theory that claims sunspots travel through the sun on a "conveyor belt" similar to the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt which controls weather on Earth.

The belt carries magnetic fields through the sun. When they hit the surface, they explode as sunspots.

Weakened, they then travel back through the sun's core to recharge.

It all happens on a rough 40-50-year cycle, according to solar physicist David Hathaway of the National Space Science and Technology Center in the US.

He says when the belt speeds up, lots of magnetic fields are collected, which points to more intense future activity.

Most experts agree, although those who put the date of Solar Max in 2012 are getting the most press.

They claim satellites will be aged by 50 years, rendering GPS even more useless than ever, and the blast will have the equivalent energy of 100 million hydrogen bombs.

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[Jason S. Global Moderator]

:sleep:

::waits for the 2012 Doomsday comments::

[Richard Hammond]

Yawn, if this scare mongering is anything like the Y2K Bug that was gonna wipe out the global economy ill be sat on my lawn with a beer in my hand with a front row seat to apocalypse.

[Jack 0Neill]

Agree with other posters. Seriously, stop posting this garbage.

[djdanster]

Yawn, if this scare mongering is anything like the Y2K Bug that was gonna wipe out the global economy ill be sat on my lawn with a beer in my hand with a front row seat to apocalypse.

+1

[Hell-In-A-Handbasket]

40 to 50 year cycle eh?

So when this happened about 50 years ago the planet and humanity are still alive

[matt4pack]

I don't know why you guys are dismissing this. It's going to happen someday and most people knew Y2K was a complete media creation but this is very real.

There was a solar storm strong enough to cause telegraph lines to catch on fire back around the 1900's. Just imagine what a storm like that would do today.

[Joseph B]

I don't know why you guys are dismissing this. It's going to happen someday and most people knew Y2K was a complete media creation but this is very real.

There was a solar storm strong enough to cause telegraph lines to catch on fire back around the 1900's. Just imagine what a storm like that would do today.

They believe it could never happen to them, not in this day and age.

They are comparing an event that happens on a cycle, with something that we created.

This is something completely different entirely, but they will treat it as such right until the very last second. Because humans are ignorant.

[tiagosilva29]

40 to 50 year cycle eh?

So when this happened about 50 years ago the planet and humanity are still alive

It coincides with WWII and WWII. 2012 will be spent in my bunker (now with extra tin foil).

[COKid]

Hmm, might be time to get back into Ham Radio. The propagation should be awesome.

[DanLeto]

Will it be hot in the UK? I can't wait for a sunny christmas!

[rvbfan]

Where did I put my tin foil hat.

[Calum Veteran]

They believe it could never happen to them, not in this day and age.

They are comparing an event that happens on a cycle, with something that we created.

This is something completely different entirely, but they will treat it as such right until the very last second. Because humans are ignorant.

My thoughts exactly...

I'd like to know why these commenters seem to think they know more than astronomers.

[ANON86364]

While I agree there is legitimate concern for solar storms, it isn't out of the realm of possibility these scientists are looking for a bit of attention.

Most experts agree, although those who put the date of Solar Max in 2012 are getting the most press.

This quote leads me to believe that they created a date and a name, to get press. Therefore, the believability as to the severity of their claims has been hurt.

Everyone today is looking for their moment of fame it seems; scientists are no different. I think there may be a storm, but not anything near as extreme.

[Aldur82]

Here's food for thought...how do you propose they even TRY to stop it? This is the Sun we are talking about. Humans do not have the capability to fathom the amount of power contained within that fiery sphere.

Human understanding comes from comparison. NOTHING in the history of the world even begins to approach what the Sun is capable of. There is absolutely nothing we can do to stop this from happening, so there is absolutely no reason to worry about it. You can worry about what would happen AFTER, but the event itself will be just another day.

Also, the astronomers are paid to come up with the worst case scenario because the people in charge always ask for the worst case scenario. The reason the media reports it is because it gets traffic to their site/viewers to their channel/listeners to their station. I'm fairly sure there is a totally plausible worst case scenario for the Sun blowing up tomorrow...but the chances of it happening are so remote it would never happen in the span of the Earth's existence.

ALWAYS read sensationalist stories like this with an air of cynicism, and if it happens to be about a natural phenomenon that we have no power to even attempt to stop...you may as well ignore the story.

[dead.cell]

My thoughts exactly...

I'd like to know why these commenters seem to think they know more than astronomers.

I'm not sure how many times I've said this (here and elsewhere), but on the internet, everyone's an expert.

"How do I know? Because I'm an expert of course!"

--

As for the story, well... after hurricane Ike hit us directly, we put real plans together for an emergency so... bring it on? :p

[Richard Hammond]

My thoughts exactly...

I'd like to know why these commenters seem to think they know more than astronomers.

Whats the point in running around screaming WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO OMG, we have only just started to venture out into space we dont have the capacity to stop something as powerful as the sun.

If this had more credibility it would be a real issue and people all around the world would be working to do something about it, but no its a random news article on a random news website, just add it to the pile of other scaremongering stories and move on.

[Azusa]

My thoughts exactly...

I'd like to know why these commenters seem to think they know more than astronomers.

the same way some 15 to 25 year olds think they can outsmart multi million dollar legal teams.

[.Neo]

This already happened in somewhere half-way the 19th century, there's no reason to suspect it won't happen again...

[Joseph B]

This already happened in somewhere half-way the 19th century, there's no reason to suspect it won't happen again...

Yep, when it happened we were just starting into huge globalization of electronics & transistors/conductors, so it didn't really effect us all that much.

If the same thing happened today, I can't even begin to contemplate the ramifications...

[Starbuck84]

Yawn, if this scare mongering is anything like the Y2K Bug that was gonna wipe out the global economy ill be sat on my lawn with a beer in my hand with a front row seat to apocalypse.

+1.

[bjoswald]

Just waiting for the blind, deaf and dumb to stand out of the crowd and say "move along, nothing to see here".

Ignorance is what will kill us, folks. We're not going to be around forever and the Reaper is already knocking.

[theclueless]

This already happened in somewhere half-way the 19th century, there's no reason to suspect it won't happen again...

solar storm is relatively safe to the earth environment, it is just a spectacular aurora show

however, it can be disastrous to power grids and electronic devices, because it is a huge emp blast on a global scale, which can wipe out the electronic infrastructures

in the 19th century, theres no far-fetching power grids and electronic infrastructures like today; while there wont be a doomsday scenario which kills all human, but if the solar maximum storm hits earth a full force, it can create havoc on human society when the electronics fail

[Setnom]

What is this 40-50 year cycle? Never heard of it. I know quite a few things about astronomy, but the solar cycle is 11 years (22 if you count the time that the pole shifts to the same polarity again).

[Growled Member]

It's just a prediction. Lots of things are predicted that never happen and many certainly never happen on schedule. It will probably happen one day but much like the Big One we've been waiting for in California, no one knows when that day may come.