Solar Storm – Reloaded

After my last post on Solar Storms and my discussions with a few people I decided to write a follow on piece as to what it means to the ordinary person in their home.

Remember that the Solar Storm we are looking at is one of nature’s regular cycles.   It will be put down to Global Warming by the eco-nutters but it is nothing of the sort.  It is comparable to the electrical disruption put out by an EMP.  With two major differences.   An EMP is a single pulse of power triggered by a nuclear explosion and dissipates quickly.   A solar storm is a continuous storm of varying magnitudes which, in this case will last for a long time.    Starts sometime 2012 and finishes sometime in 2013, however long that is it is more than a pulse.   In addition the Solar Storm will have a magnitude potential less than an EMP.   That means every flare will not be sufficient to impact on our electrical equipment.

it could cause “1 to 2 trillion dollars in damages to society’s high-tech infrastructure and require four to 10 years for complete recovery”

At first look it is unbelievable that such a thing could happen and there be so little mention of it.  Not being a solar expert I am relying on those that are.  Hoping that they are not like the AGW crowd but also hoping they are wrong.   Read about the predictions here.  On one hand don’t worry and on the other meltdown.

They way I understand that an EMP works is it creates a current in a piece of wire that simply burns the wire out, breaks down insulation by overloading it and thus frying all electrical and electronic equipment and potentially setting it on fire if it is not shielded.   They can be shielded by design, military equipment tends to be shielded, or disconnecting them from the mains, aerials and all external contact and enclosing them in a shielded enclosure.

Now if we knew when a nuclear war was going to take place we could disconnect everything and put it away until the EMP event was over and then reassemble.   Sadly, we don’t know when that could happen so people prepare by having spare units, leads, cables, aerial wire, etc. shielded and ready to whip out as a replacement for the now dead units.  Yippee.    However, a solar storm, once started is a continuous stream of EMP events of varying intensities.  You cannot replace your units once blown until the storm has stopped.   Sometime in 2013.

The real issue though is that usually the intensity of the pulses from the solar flares is not going to have the intensity necessary to burn out our electronics.   We can carry on as usual and nothing is noticed except by power companies and satellite owners unless it impacts on certain services.   However, you only need one powerful burst to impact your electronics.   When that burst could be is unknown so we cannot really prepare for it and when it happensits too late for you.

Now let’s imagine we do get hit by one of these flares that destroy our electronics.   We would lose our computers and potentially the data.  Your USB sticks and SD Cards would be erased.   Your TV, DVD, Satellite, radio and Video systems would be dead.   Your microwaves, toasters and ovens would be dead.   All modern cars would be dead as the engine management systems and computers were fried.  Who would tell you to put your seatbelt on then?   Potentially damaged would be Washing machines, Dishwashers, Freezers and Fridges.    These would likely be nukes by the power surging through the mains.   Clocks, electric drills, toothbrushes, PDAs, IPhones, Kindles etc. would also be gone.

It would take us back 50 years.    The Greens would be ecstatic until they actually found out what that means.    Only problem is that all the Grandmas who know how to survive without all that kit are long gone and the rest of us have no idea who to live without TVs or computers.  Millions of chavs would starve with freezers full of defrosted microwavable dinners.

That is not including the infrastructure like phones, the NHS, road works, your bank and the supermarkets which we are ignoring for this scenario.

Let’s hope that the storm is not as bad as it could be, our equipment is better shielded than they were in 1918 and that any issues are resolved quickly and efficiently.

Oh, and back up your data and put it is a shielded place.   Print out what you feel you need and be sure to read any instructions sent out by scientists when the storm starts to appear and before it reaches its full power.   We do get a few minutes warning if you are very quick.

Personally, I’m backing up my entire system and putting it and a couple of laptops in a shielded enclosure.  Won’t bring any of it out until I’m 100% sure.  It may be like Y2K where nothing of note happened but a little insurance hurts nobody.