# 2943
The past couple of days have brought a number of news reports about the dangers of Severe Space Weather Events.
Several of the cable news stations have run reports, and The New Scientist published an article this week which opens with the following scenario:
Space storm alert: 90 seconds from catastrophe
- 23 March 2009 by Michael Brooks
IT IS midnight on 22 September 2012 and the skies above Manhattan are filled with a flickering curtain of colourful light. Few New Yorkers have seen the aurora this far south but their fascination is short-lived. Within a few seconds, electric bulbs dim and flicker, then become unusually bright for a fleeting moment. Then all the lights in the state go out. Within 90 seconds, the entire eastern half of the US is without power.
A year later and millions of Americans are dead and the nation's infrastructure lies in tatters. The World Bank declares America a developing nation. Europe, Scandinavia, China and Japan are also struggling to recover from the same fateful event - a violent storm, 150 million kilometres away on the surface of the sun.
While solar storms might seem far afield from this blog’s normal territory (and a remote threat), they can be viewed as another reason for people to get prepared to deal with any disaster.
Perhaps another `Carrington Event’, like the one that occurred in 1859, won’t happen again in our lifetimes.
But there are no guarantees of that.
Besides, we will always have hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, and pandemics to deal with – which are good enough reasons to be get prepared, and stay prepared.
Preparations for most disasters; having an adequate emergency kit, and an emergency plan – means you will be better able to deal with any emergency.
Up to and including a solar storm.
The report (Severe Space Weather Events--Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts Workshop Report), funded by NASA and issued by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is available online via the National Academies Press.
You may view the 132 report for free.
If you are pressed for time, you can choose to `skim’ each chapter, reading just selected excerpts, or you can download the executive summary.
This is a fascinating report, and it reminds us just how fragile our modern infrastructure really is.
If you are unfamiliar with the National Academies Press, here is how they describe themselves:
The National Academies Press
The National Academies Press (NAP) was created by the National Academies to publish the reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council, all operating under a charter granted by the Congress of the United States. The NAP publishes more than 200 books a year on a wide range of topics in science, engineering, and health, capturing the most authoritative views on important issues in science and health policy. The institutions represented by the NAP are unique in that they attract the nation's leading experts in every field to serve on their award-winning panels and committees. This is the right place for definitive information on everything from space science to animal nutrition.
Many of these titles are available for free, online. A great resource, particularly for those with an interest in scientific research.
For more information on how to prepare for emergencies of all types, please visit the following sites.
FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm
READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/
AMERICAN RED CROSS http://www.redcross.org/
For Pandemic Preparedness Information: HHS Individual Planning Page
For more in-depth emergency preparedness information I can think of no better resource than GetPandemicReady.Org.
