Global Katrina: Biggest Solar Storm Ever May Cause Power Cuts for MONTHS

Scientists are warning that the world is increasingly at risk from a significant solar storm that could severely disrupt communications, cripple aircraft operations, and trigger widespread power outages, potentially costing hundreds of billions of dollars in damages. As the sun approaches its peak activity period, known as solar maximum, the likelihood of such a catastrophic event has escalated.

Recent predictions indicate that the solar maximum is expected to occur between January and October 2024, earlier than previously anticipated. This heightened solar activity can lead to massive eruptions on the sun, releasing waves of radiation and charged particles directed towards Earth. These solar storms can damage satellite systems essential for global communications, navigation, and power grid operations[1][4].

The recent solar eruption witnessed last week serves as a reminder of the sun’s volatile nature. This event was the strongest in five years, sending charged plasma towards Earth at speeds of 580 miles per second. Experts note that if a more powerful storm were to occur, it could result in severe disruptions across multiple sectors, including finance and emergency services. In extreme cases, power outages could last for weeks or even months, significantly impacting modern infrastructure[2][3][9].

Jane Lubchenco, head of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), emphasized that it is not a question of “if” but “when” such an event will happen. She highlighted that today’s society relies heavily on technology that is more vulnerable to solar activity than in previous cycles. The last solar maximum occurred about ten years ago when technology usage was markedly different[3][4].

As we navigate this period of increased solar activity, experts urge preparedness for potential disruptions. The implications of a major geomagnetic storm could ripple through various systems—affecting everything from GPS and mobile networks to critical infrastructure like water supplies and emergency services[9][10].

What happened last time?

From August 28, 1859 until September 2, numerous sunspots[13] and solar flares[14] were observed on the sun. Just before noon on September 1, the British astronomer Richard Carrington[15] observed the largest flare[16][17], which caused a massive coronal mass ejection[18] (CME) to travel directly toward Earth, taking 18 hours. This is remarkable because such a journey normally takes three to four days. It moved so quickly because an earlier CME had cleared its way …

 

On September 1–2, 1859, the largest recorded geomagnetic storm[19] occurred. Aurorae[20] were seen around the world, most notably over the Caribbean; also noteworthy were those over the Rocky Mountains that were so bright that their glow awoke gold miners, who began preparing breakfast because they thought it was morning.

 

Telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed in some cases even shocking telegraph operators. Telegraph pylons threw sparks and telegraph paper spontaneously caught fire. Some telegraph systems appeared to continue to send and receive messages despite having been disconnected from their power supplies.

Here is an account from an actual telegrapher:

Thursday, February 19, 1852

 

“Towards evening, a heavy blue line appeared upon the paper, which gradually increased in size for the space of half a minute, when a flame of fire succeeded to the blue line, of sufficient intensity to burn through a dozen thicknesses of the moistened paper. The current then subsided as gradually as it had come on, until it entirely ceased, and was then succeeded by a negative current (which bleaches, instead of coloring, the paper). This gradually increased, in the same manner as the positive current, until it also, in turn, produced its flame of fire, and burned through many thicknesses of the prepared paper; it then subsided, again to be followed by the positive current. This state of things continued during the entire evening, and effectually prevented any business being done over the wires.”

Another account:

During the auroral display, I was calling Richmond, and had one hand on the iron plate. Happening to lean towards the sounder, which is against the wall, my forehead grazed a ground wire. Immediately, I receive a very severe electric shock, which stunned me for an instant. An old man who was sitting facing me, and but a few feet distant, said that he saw a spark of fire jump from my forehead to the sounder.”  …

I’m not worried about communications disruptions. No one is talking about the fires. This is the time to buy CO2 fire extinguishers that put out electrical fires. Lots of them.

NOTE!: Never use a water extinguisher on grease fires, electrical fires … – the flames will spread and make the fire bigger! CO2 extinguishers have an advantage over dry chemical extinguishers since they don’t leave a harmful residue – a good choice for an electrical fire on a computer or other favorite electronic device such as a stereo or TV.  … Class C fires involve electrical equipment[21].

 

Even 144 years ago, many of Earth’s inhabitants realized something momentous had just occurred. Within hours, telegraph wires in both the United States and Europe spontaneously shorted out, causing numerous fires[22].

 

The extremely high currents resulted in many telegraph wires short-circuiting, causing some telegraph poles to catch alight.  … The CME was also responsible for the huge currents generated in telegraph wires. The CME caused distortion of Earth’s magnetic field, establishing a constant flow of charge — a direct current –in the wires. This is an example of a geomagnetically induced current[23].

In 1859, wires were scarce, but not today. Imagine a fire starting anywhere there is a wire, and worse … in 1859, there were no nuclear power plants and no nuclear bombs. Here’s hoping to hell the bombs, pipelines, and billions of miles of wires we now have don’t catch fire and/or explode burning down every major city.

The sun could send us back to the stone age.

Tips:

• If you get a shock and see blue flames coming out of your computer or other electronics, stay calm, grab your CO2 fire extinguisher
• Stand on your Non-Conductive (Switchboard) Matt to be protected from deadly high voltage shocks. You’ll only have to stand there for one evening if it is like the last time.
  
• Be sure you use power strips or battery power supplies (UPSs) on your computers and other equipment.  They can absorb high voltage and save your stuff.
• Put on your cool blue anti electric arc suit.
  

Read More

^{[1] https://www.bradford.ac.uk/news/archive/2024/academic-who-predicted-solar-storms-says-more-likely-in-coming-weeks-and-months.php
[2] https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-cycle-progression
[3] https://www.planetary.org/articles/should-you-be-worried-about-solar-storms
[4] https://www.space.com/solar-maximum-expected-2024-new-predictions-suggest
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cycle_25
[6] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240815-miyake-events-the-giant-solar-superstorms-that-could-rock-earth
[7] https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/reports/3-day-forecast.html
[8] https://www.weather.gov/news/102523-solar-cycle-25-update
[9] https://www.astronomy.com/science/a-large-solar-storm-could-knock-out-the-internet-and-power-grid-an-electrical-engineer-explains-how/
[10] https://www.aptim.com/media/preparing-for-the-2024-solar-storm/
[11] https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-scientists-are-tackling-the-tricky-task-of-solar-cycle-prediction-20230907/
[12] https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190028769/downloads/20190028769.pdf
[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunspots
[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_flare
[15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Carrington
[16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Super_Flare
[17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859#cite_note-Odenwald-3
[18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejection
[19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_storm
[20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_%28astronomy%29
[21] http://www.fire-extinguisher101.com/
[22] https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/23oct_superstorm/
[23] http://climate.arm.ac.uk/Carrington_Flare_Report.pdf}