Massive Solar Storm

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There was an interesting article published a few days ago that discussed a massive solar storm. Generally a solar storm similar to the Carrington Event could cause great destruction to modern society. One of the main effects would be the destruction of one-of-a-kind large voltage transformers at the main electrical power plants. This could deprive parts of civilization without electrical power for months/years, producing great chaos. The latest paper was not focused on the fallout from such an event but rather focused on how the event would occur.

You’ve heard of a “perfect storm.” But what about a perfect solar storm? A new study just published in the research journal Space Weather considers what might happen if a worst-case coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth. Spoiler alert: You might need a backup generator.

For years, researchers have been wondering, what’s the worst the sun could do? In 2014, Bruce Tsurutani (JPL) and Gurbax Lakhina (Indian Institute of Geomagnetism) introduced the “Perfect CME.” It would be fast, leaving the sun around 3,000 km/s, and aimed directly at Earth. Moreover, it would follow another CME, which would clear the path in front of it, allowing the storm cloud to hit Earth with maximum force.

None of this is fantasy. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has observed CMEs leaving the sun at speeds up to 3,000 km/s. And there are many documented cases of one CME clearing the way for another. Perfect CMEs are real.

Source: What if … A Perfect CME Hit Earth?

Tech jobs would look very different.

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"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos

Our lives are so interconnected with electricity, that if we lost it for a year, the world would melt down. No gasoline because the pumps are driven by electricity. No stop lights producing massive gridlock. No food in stores because the transportation grid grinds to a halt. No communications once the batteries die. And most people are not even aware of the danger in our modern age. People in high rises have to use the stairs in the dark. Sanitation systems are taken off line because of lack of power. The pumps that bring water into water towers are off line and after that water runs out what do people drink or flush their toilets with.

Losing electricity for a day or two is an inconvenience, losing electricity for a year is a major cataclysm.

Sounds like something out of a disaster film.

One more reference, https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/08 ... t-warning/

One of the main threats from a massive solar storm is that it can destroy the large voltage transformer at the various electrical power generating plants. These transforers are massive and are very unique devices. They are like specially built one-of-a-kind items that cost in excess of $1 Million each and have a lead time of a year to build and deliver. So a massive solar storm can take out many of these transformers all at once and there are not spares available. They will need to be fabricated on a massive scale. So a very widespread power outage affecting a million people or more and lasting for a year is the main threat.

Our whole world and our modern society relies upon electricity. It touches almost everything we do.

I often pray for a solar mass ejection to take out the satellites. Not enough to EMP the power grid, but just the satellites which provide GPS, maps, spying, etc. Most high speed data communication is fiber and would only be marginally effected.

The world is too small.

Today is an anniversary of the Great Quebec Blackout. It happened 32 years ago on this date.

They call it “the day the sun brought darkness.” On March 13, 1989, a powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth’s magnetic field. Ninety seconds later, the Hydro-Québec power grid failed. During the 9 hour blackout that followed, millions of Quebecois found themselves with no light or heat, wondering what was going on?

“It was the biggest geomagnetic storm of the Space Age,” says Dr. David Boteler, head of the Space Weather Group at Natural Resources Canada. “March 1989 has become the archetypal disturbance for understanding how solar activity can cause blackouts.”



It seems hard to believe now, but in 1989 few people realized solar storms could bring down power grids. The warning bells had been ringing for more than a century, though. In Sept. 1859, a similar CME hit Earth’s magnetic field–the infamous “Carrington Event“–sparking a storm twice as strong as March 1989. Electrical currents surged through Victorian-era telegraph wires, in some cases causing sparks and setting telegraph offices on fire. These were the same kind of currents that would bring down Hydro-Québec.

What are GICs? Freshman physics 101: When a magnetic field swings back and forth, electricity flows through conductors in the area. It’s called “magnetic induction.” Geomagnetic storms do this to Earth itself. The rock and soil of our planet can conduct electricity. So when a CME rattles Earth’s magnetic field, currents flow through the soil beneath our feet.



Québec is especially vulnerable. The province sits on an expanse of Precambrian igneous rock that does a poor job conducting electricity. When the March 13th CME arrived, storm currents found a more attractive path in the high-voltage transmission lines of Hydro-Québec. Unusual frequencies (harmonics) began to flow through the lines, transformers overheated and circuit breakers tripped.

Much is still unknown about the March 1989 event. It occurred long before modern satellites were monitoring the sun 24/7. To piece together what happened, Boteler has sifted through old records of radio emissions, magnetograms, and other 80s-era data sources. He recently published a paper in the research journal Space Weather summarizing his findings — including a surprise:

“There were not one, but two CMEs,” he says.

The sunspot that hurled the CMEs toward Earth, region 5395, was one of the most active sunspot groups ever observed. In the days around the Quebec blackout it produced more than a dozen M- and X-class solar flares. Two of the explosions (an X4.5 on March 10th and an M7.3 on March 12th) targeted Earth with CMEs.

“The first CME cleared a path for the second CME, allowing it to strike with unusual force,” says Boteler. “The lights in Québec went out just minutes after it arrived.”

Source: The Great Québec Blackout