Scientists relate threats from solar storms within the next few years

Carol Forsloff - The media is buzzing about predictions for 2012, not only for the
Presidential election that is to take place that year, but also because
of issues and events pointing to that year as one for the end of the world,
but what are the real threats considered by science?

Solar

storms, according to scientists, pose a threat to the modern world.
This is not a science fiction film propaganda, it is a real possibility,
if we are to believe the scientists who gathered at 2009 space weather
enterprise forum in Washington DC.  These scientists said we should
prepare for them and presently are not.

This year scientists met
at the Space Weather Enterprise Forum in DC to talk about this and
specific measures to keep civilization from being destroyed by solar
storms.  One of those ways is having the ability to monitor what is
called "space" weather, which is a new method of examining if, when and
where solar storms might time place.

But the reality of these
solar storms is best expressed by NASA scientist Richard Fisher: “The
sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we
expect to see much higher levels of solar activity.”
Inside Science
in 2009 wrote in detail about how scientists are examining patterns of
catastrophic solar storms both past and present in order to make
predictions.

Scientists have examined a number of events where
solar storms have occurred in order to make predictions for the future.
One was the legendary Carrington event which was a series of magnetic
storms from the sun that hit the Earth in 1859. These storms disrupted
telegraph lines across the United States and turned the night skies into
day reportedly as far south as the Caribbean. Again in 1921 another
solar storm had such intense power it shocked scientists of the time.
The one that occurred in March of 1989 blacked out the entire power grid
in Québec Canada in less than two minutes. The solar storm in 2003
caused a massive blackout in the northeastern part of the United States
creating $10 billion with damage to electrical systems.

Given
the background enumerated by scientists, there are problems created by
solar storms that are not myths and stories but indeed possibilities
based upon ongoing historical events.

Scientists believe
countries need to be prepared for problems caused by solar storms. The
United States and Canada have been two countries at the forefront of
assessing these concerns. Scientists declare that if another Carrington
event occurred, the consequences would be extremely serious in the
modern world because it would severely disrupt oil and gas supplies,
emergency and Government services the banking systems finance and
transportation. Scientists estimate the damage could run into the
trillions of dollars. Large solar storms, could literally put millions
of lives at risk.

As a response to the potential for solar
storms, George Mason University social scientist Todd Laporte maintains
that preparation should be in place for a storm four to ten times the
one that occurred in 1989 that blacked out Québec.

Public
education, according to scientists, is essential to developing and
implementing a plan to mitigate the damage from a future extreme solar
storm. The problem, however, they declare is that too much publicity may
bring disaster fatigue. Solar storms may be infrequent, but according
to the National Research Council they are much more likely to occur around 2012
as the sun becomes increasingly active.   Others are anticipating they
could more realistically occur the following year in 2013, according to
Fox News.

Some believe the parade of interested people,
especially those cited on Fox News is simply an over-reaction or a way
to secure publicity.  The fact remains, however,  that scientists are
noticing realities especially with regard to technology and how it could
respond to solar storms in some rather devastating ways that could
impact communication.

Scientists say in fact we can expect stronger storms in the upcoming solar cycle because clouds of particles ejected
from the sun will increase, and the more the particles in the
atmosphere the more the possibility of solar storms. Furthermore a major
breach in the Earth's magnetic shield adds to the risks.