#cannibalcmes — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #cannibalcmes, aggregated by home.social.
-
It's more about whether or not Earth's #magnetosphere is affected by the #GeomagneticStorm, rather than the #SolarFlares themselves.
Could an extremely powerful #SolarFlare destroy all the electronics on Earth?
By: Jonathan Strickland
Updated: Jun 9, 2023"Because our atmosphere absorbs most of these dangerous rays, terrestrial systems are fairly safe from solar flares. But another solar event called a coronal mass ejection (#CME) can cause serious problems for electrical systems here on Earth. During a CME, the fluctuations of the sun's magnetic fields cause a large portion of the surface of the sun to expand rapidly, ejecting billions of tons of particles out into space.
"Sometimes CMEs accompany solar flares -- but not all solar flares produce #CMEs and not all CMEs accompany solar flares.
"Unlike a solar flare, a CME doesn't produce intense light. But it does produce a magnetic shockwave that extends billions of miles out into space. If Earth is in the path of that shockwave, our planet's magnetic field will react to the event. It's similar to what happens if you put a weak magnet next to a strong one. The weak magnet's field will align itself to the strong magnet's field. A magnetic shockwave from the sun could cause the alignment of the Earth's magnetic field to shift unpredictably.
"Pretty lights aren't the only consequence from a CME. The magnetic fluctuations can cause compasses to fail. And since magnetic fields can induce electricity, any conductor could become an inductor. A powerful CME could induce electricity in large, powerful conductors. That could overload electrical systems and cause massive damage."
Read more:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/solar-flare-electronics.htm -
I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I plan on making sure all my electronics are turned off and disconnected, and might put some of them in a makeshift #FaradayCage until after the #CMEs hit Earth. I'd like to think utilities and such will have learned from warnings from 2013, but then again, it's the human race we're talking about. Unless there's a buck to be made, we seem to be woefully unprepared for stuff that can happen -- unfortunately...
"If a massive CME were spotted, such 3-day forecasts give us some lead time: there are some measures #ElectricUtilities could take to protect their equipment, such as quickly disconnecting #transformers. Polar flights, which travel at the highest altitudes, could be rerouted to avoid contact with damaging solar particles, and some #satellites could be switched into a #SafeMode to minimize damage. Here on Earth, at the very least, we’d have some time to prepare for potential power #blackouts and other problems."
#SolarFlare #SolarFlares #SolarCycle25 #CannibalCME #CannibalCMEs #CarringtonEvent #CMEs