An M2 (medium) Class solar flare, with CME and an S1 (minor) Class Radiation storm recorded by NASA on June 7th, 2011.
# 5763
A hundred years ago space weather made little difference to the inhabitants of the earth beyond producing spectacular auroral light shows in the high latitudes.
Humans were (and still are) well insulated from bursts of solar energy by the earths atmosphere and magnetic field, and our technology was primitive enough to be pretty much immune to the electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) generated by solar storms.
But over the last 50 years we’ve become increasingly dependent on high technology, and many of their components – including satellites, power generators, and radio communications – are vulnerable to unusually large EMPs.
With our sun now beginning to awaken from its solar minimum, and sun spot activity and CME’s (Coronal Mass Ejections) expected to increase over the next couple of years, concerns over the vulnerability of our modern technological infrastructure are rising again.
As I wrote in Solar Storms, CMEs & FEMA, the United States takes this threat seriously. While massive solar storms are rare, they can and do occur. And if one is pointed towards the earth, it has the potential to damage our electronic infrastructure.
In early 2010 FEMA held a major table-top exercise in anticipation of the upcoming solar maximum, and according to a tweet from FEMA Director Craig Fugate yesterday, they now include a solar weather update in their daily briefings.
A 30 page PDF file is available for download from the FEMA library on this exercise which envisioned a `near worst-case scenario’.
Managing Critical Disasters in the Transatlantic Domain - The Case of a Geomagnetic Storm
While sounding a bit like science-fiction, and being used (and abused) by prophesy/ Mayan 2012/ End-of-the-World fringe websites, the truth is large and potentially disruptive solar storms do occur on rare occasions – usually at the time of a solar maximum.
NASA, while admitting that a serious solar storm could happen practically anytime, also cautions that the next big one could be many decades away. It is a genuine threat, they say, but the timing is impossible to predict.
In 2009 the National Academy of Sciences produced a 134 page report on the potential damage that another major solar flare could cause in Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts.
You can read it for free online at the above link.
Since the Internet is filled with less-than-credible information about the threat of solar storms, I like to highlight information from reputable sources whenever I can.
Later today NASA will hold a televised news conference on our awakening sun and the tracking of space weather events, which may be viewed online via NASA-TV at 2pm EST today.
Details come from the following media advisory:
MEDIA ADVISORY : M11-170
NASA Hosts News Briefing About Tracking Space Weather Events
WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a news briefing at 2 p.m. EDT, Thursday, Aug. 18, to discuss new details about the structure of solar storms and the impact they have on Earth. The new information comes from NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, spacecraft and other NASA probes.
The briefing will take place in NASA Headquarters' James E. Webb Auditorium, located at 300 E St. SW in Washington, and will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.
The briefing panelists are:
-- Madhulika Guhathakurta, STEREO program scientist, NASA Headquarters
-- Craig DeForest, staff scientist, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colo.
-- David Webb, research physicist, Institute for Scientific Research, Boston College
-- Alysha Reinard, research scientist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Colorado, Boulder
Reporters unable to attend may ask questions from participating NASA centers or by telephone. To participate by phone, reporters must contact Steve Cole at 202-358-0918 or stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov by 11 a.m. on Thursday.
STEREO is part of NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes Program in the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The program seeks to understand the fundamental physical processes of the space environment from the sun to Earth and other planets.
For more information about NASA's STEREO mission, visit:
For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:
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For more on Solar storms, including the granddaddy of them all – the 1859 Carrington Event, you may wish to revisit these earlier blog posts.
NASA: Getting Ready For The Next Big Solar Storm
NASA Braces For Solar Disruptions
A Carrington Event
