Scientists are rightfully worried that our current solar cycle might trigger an electronics collapse of anything not electromagnetically shielded. The weakest link is the electric power grid — which we all depend on nowadays — and some of the aging satellite systems that do not have military grade hardware protection. Can you imagine all electronics either fizzling out or bursting into flame? The damage would be in the trillions, and there would be mass starvation since our modern style of living requires refrigeration and transportation in order to function.
The idea of a “black swan” type event isn’t theoretical since a solar storm knocked out a power grid in Quebec in 1989, and it’s claimed that a devastating CME event has a 12 percent chance of happening by 2024. Earth already dodged the bullet once in recent times. Back in July of 2012, two coronal mass ejections separated by 10 to 15 minutes was enough of a solar superstorm to be a Carrington Event, but fortunately our planet barely missed it.
According to Peter Vincent Pry, who advises Congress on homeland security issues, a large enough geomagnetic solar storm could produce effects similar to an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generated by a nuclear weapon that “could collapse power grids everywhere on the planet and destroy EHV (extra high voltage) transformers and other electronic systems that would require years to repair or replace.” While the danger posed by a G5 solar storm gets mentioned occasionally at Congressional hearings, there really hasn’t been any major action.
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