NASA Predicts Massive Solar Storm in 2012 Could Have Massive EMP Effect

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NASA: Cosmic 'superstorm' more crippling than 20 Katrinas

Solar flare forecast renews concern over power grids, communications

June 17, 2010
A new government forecast warns a coming possible solar storm could eliminate – at least temporarily across large swaths of the world – power grids, air travel and communications, including those operating financial services and emergency systems, as well as GPS functions and even cell phones.

"The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity," said Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division, in the report released just days ago.

"At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms," he said.

WND first reported last year that NASA held high levels of concern over solar flare activity that appeared to be running in cycles. The new forecast suggests the solar storm could be at its peak activity in 2012 or 2013.

At that time, NASA forecast the possibility of a rerun of the May 1921 "superstorm" or the so-called Carrington event of 1859, which was described by Space.com as "the most powerful onslaught of solar energy in recorded history."

The new NASA report cited a National Academy of Sciences explanation from two years ago – "Severe Space Weather Events – Societal and Economic Impacts" – that documented how 21st-century civilization relies on high-tech systems for the basics of life.

Without power grids, there is no fuel pumped from underground tanks into vehicles. Without cell towers, communications could be stricken. Without servers, banking systems could revert to paper receipts. Even the supply of food could be disrupted should delivery systems be unable to track trains, trucks and shipments.

"A century-class solar storm, the Academy warned, could cause 20 times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina," the new NASA warning stated. …

…According to a report in the Daily Galaxy, the flares that appear to move in 22-year cycles could cause power grids to overheat and navigational devices and satellites to stop.

It's estimated that during solar storms, temperatures on the sun reach 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

"We know it is coming but we don't know how bad it is going to be," Fisher told The Daily Telegraph. "It will disrupt communication devices such as satellites and car navigations, air travel, the banking system, our computers, everything that is electronic. It will cause major problems for the world. Large areas will be without electricity power and to repair that damage will be hard as that takes time.

"Systems will just not work," he warned. "The flares change the magnetic field on the earth that is rapid and like a lightning bolt. That is the solar effect."

Tom Chivers, the Telegraph's strategic events editor, said his sources agreed that there should be concern….”

See:
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=167949



NASA Predicts Massive Solar Storm in 2012

October 5, 2010
“…Now we come to NASA and observations by scientists who are not selling us carbon trades or caps. They tell us the earth’s magnetic field, our shield against radiation from the sun, has weakened dramatically and continues to weaken. That is bad enough, but then we are told the sun cycle that periodically produces giant solar flares is now beginning to peak. Those flares, sometimes called “sun storms,” wreak havoc on electrical and electronic systems. Storms in 1859 and 1921 caused worldwide chaos, wiping out telegraph wires on a massive scale. And since 1921 we have come to rely on electronic and electrical equipment that is far more delicate than mere telegraph wires—not to mention satellites. …

…The coming solar storm will hit Earth as fast as a bolt of lightning and have the effect of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) generated by the equivalent of millions of hydrogen bombs. The National Academy of Sciences says that if the coming Solar Max only equals the storm of 1859 it will cause damage to the globe’s high-tech infrastructure that will require four to ten years to repair, and cost $1 to 2 trillion. Unless precautions are taken, the storm will act like an EMP, and massively damage communications, the electrical grid, emergency services and national security. Satellites will be destroyed or damaged as well, additionally degrading or destroying communications links and GPS systems.

There are also predictions that Solar Max will have an impact on Earth’s core, that roiling sphere of liquid iron that generates the planet’s magnetic field. If that is true, the coming solar storm will affect earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and hurricanes. All those disasters are frightening enough, but what direct effect will Solar Max have on animal life—on humans? …”

See:
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.7554/pub_detail.asp


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