Yes, is the answer. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but when it comes in our direction it'll have the potential to fry our communications network putting it out of action for weeks, if not months. And not just the ipods, computers, and telephones around your house - it is likely to severely disrupt emergency services, banking systems, vital medical equipment and air traffic control. Being so dependent on electronics you can't help but feel we're pretty exposed.
Last month, NASA filmed a coronal mass ejection (travelling at over 1000km per second - it took about 2 days to reach Earth!), which adds to the evidence that the Sun is finally 'wakening-up' after a period of inactivity. Solar cycles last approximately 11 years and we're expecting to come out of a minimum period of activity to a solar max sometime in 2013.
To add to that, we're long overdue a 'once-in-a-lifetime' solar storm.
Happy thoughts!
No comments:
Post a Comment