Do Solar Storms Threaten Life as We Know It?

[steven johnson]

We are experiencing an unusially low point in the 11 year solar cycle making it the quietest sun we've seen in almost a century. The concern is how big the next solar maximum will be and how it will affect modern microelectronic.

The current sunspot cycle is at a minimum -- in fact, the deepest minimum since at least 1913.

In more recent memory, a magnetic storm generated auroras seen as far south as Florida and Cuba and resulted in collapse of Quebec's entire power grid, which fortunately was repaired in about nine hours.

Just as buildings and infrastructure along coastlines create increased vulnerability to hurricanes, our ever-increasing reliance on technology has made us more and more susceptible to the dangers of solar storms.

thought.
For additional context, according to the NAS report, the cost over just the first year following a severe geomagnetic storm could be as high as $2 trillion (the report doesn't discuss loss of life) -- and NAS puts the recovery time at four to 10 years.


Do Solar Storms Threaten Life as We Know It?

[Warpy]

1. A lack of activity could buy us some necessary time

A prolonged solar minimum was recorded during the Little Ice Age.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunder_minimum