Solar Storms: Hype, Hoax, or Legitimate Concern??

[TClaeys]

There's been a lot of news stories concerning an upward swing of solar activity. It seems, based on the knowledge that we have right now, that this increased solar activity could cause major communication problems and perhaps even electrical infrastructure problems. This event might even cripple our country by knocking out electrical transformers. We don't even make them here in the US so we would probably be pretty far down the list of getting new ones.

Imagine a scenario where millions of Americans, (or whatever country), are out of power indefinitely. It would have a devasting effect.

So while I've been hearing and reading about this solar storm activity on the rise for years, it seems that in a few years we will be reaching what scientists say will be the high point. We actually have a lot of questions concerning the sun because we have had little time to study it. And certainly it has some surprises in store for us.

So while I think this is a legitimate concern I wonder what all of you think. As far as I can tell we have no contingency plan for such a disaster. But it could wreak havoc in the next few years. And the nice thing is that it plays nicely into the 2012 stuff, ... of course, sigh. Either way, I've found myself ridiculously dependant on technology and of course electricity. And to know that that tech could be in serious jeopardy is a bit concerning to say the least.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...olar_flare_storm_could_lose_power_commun.html

 

[CapnG]

We're either screwed or we're not. There's not alot of middle ground with this one and we won't really know for sure until the first big one hits.

 

[dyingsun]

Great topic, I'm way more scared of a major/'giant' solar flare hitting us then us being hit by space rocks. Apparently we are in a 'low' phase now, how scientists can actually conclude this for the time we are observing the sun is beyond me.

 

[satcomer]

The only problem is this has always been like this ever since the Sun came into being. The thing that changed is we now understand what is going on. So there is no mystery except the time it took humans this long to understand the star that gives us light.

 

[Angel of Ioren]

The only problem is this has always been like this ever since the Sun came into being. The thing that changed is we now understand what is going on. So there is no mystery except the time it took humans this long to understand the star that gives us light.

The problem is that we also have a ton of technology that will possibly be affected by it.

 

[Michael Allen]

Install the 3D SUN app on your ipod touch or iphone...its basically a portal to the NASA Heliophysics Division SDO project. I get nice push notifications when the sun decides to go berserk for the day--also has nice (really nice) high definition videos and photos.

At least we aren't in the T-Tauri wind phase ....that would really suck.

What better way to stimulate the world economy than allocating funds to refit the electrical and communication infrastructure to make it less vulnerable to solar wind storms (which is a real threat). Also, while we are at it, might as well come up with cost-effective methods to capture the sun's .... exuberance.

 

[Wynne Carluk]

I'm going to post a link to one of the most interesting stories relevant to Solar Storms, that being the cause of Solar Storms. Sunspot activity.
Absence of sunspots make scientists wonder if they're seeing a calm before a storm of energy
Apparently it takes sunspot activity to create a solar flare, and (or) a solar storm. Since 2,008 solar activity, as sunspots go, has diminished considerably, and there is even a model set up which theorizes the absolute end of sunspot activity all together. In this scenario, the declination of internal solar energy would reach such a low point that the forces required to trigger sunspot activity would not be achievable by the Sun, and there would be no more sunspots, hence no solar flares or storms. Research, of over 18 months, with equipment monitoring the Sun has graphed an actual cooling trend in the Suns inner temperature.
Now I will copy and paste some of the text from the Washington post on a story they partially covered from the BBC to some what validate what I have said.
"Sunspots come and go, but recently they have mostly gone. For centuries, astronomers have recorded when these dark blemishes on the solar surface emerge, only to fade away after a few days, weeks or months. Thanks to their efforts, we know that sunspot numbers ebb and flow in cycles lasting about 11 years."
Here we are now in 2,010.
"But for the past two years, the sunspots have mostly been missing. Their absence, the most prolonged in nearly 100 years, has taken even seasoned sun watchers by surprise. 'This is solar behavior we haven't seen in living memory,' says David Hathaway, a physicist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala."
And here is the part that is baffling Solar Scientists world wide, and certainly bring ME to perk my feelers up!
"The sun is under scrutiny as never before, thanks to an armada of space telescopes. The results they beam back are portraying our nearest star, and its influence on Earth, in a new light. Sunspots and other clues indicate that the sun's magnetic activity is diminishing and that the sun may even be shrinking. Together, the results hint that something profound is happening inside the sun. The big question is: What"
What indeed. You can click the Washington post link and read the full partial Post rendition of the BBC story for more. To me this isn't the place to just copy and paste a full or partial story, but a place for us all to theorize, perhaps, where the "Professionals" may either be intentionally leaving out, or inadvertently overlooking.
The story goes on to say that for the last two 11 year cycles scientists have predicted the biggest sunspot activity in history, and yet such has not at all been the case. As a matter of fact, the Sunspot activity has been dwindling to strangely inexplicable lows. So what does that tell us? (Here is where I'm looking for input beyond my own "It means scientists are way off on the age of the Sun", or my"Scientists are way off on the fundamental mechanics of the Sun entirely" theories.
I think the only thing we can do is to continue monitoring the the Suns inner core temperature, to see if it does indeed continue to fall, or if at some point in time it spikes again. I also think we need to truly put more academic focus on fundamental Solar theoretic research, with the goal of being able to one day inject new required Solar elements into the heart of the Sun to prolong it's "burn". I mean, if we have the ability to decimate our world 10 times over, then perhaps we may discover the science needed to perpetuate a star indefinitely. Yes, the amount of energy released by the Sun per second is on a magnitude far beyond our ability to replicate, but when you consider that it only takes a really small amount of Uranium to make an atomic bomb, then perhaps a small (by the Suns standards) amount of an element will rejuvenate the Sun if we come to find that it is just really really hungry!
Anyways, read the article. It's pretty interesting, and pretty alarming at the same time.
Take care everyone...and get your tan while you can!
~Wynne~

---------- Post added at 10:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:45 PM ----------

So I followed the story, trying to find the BBC FULL story, but as of now I have not been able to find the damned thing! I did find this though, and it pretty much says the very thing some ones reply of "We're either screwed, or we're not" statement. What is overwhelmingly accurate though is that SOMETHING is happening INSIDE the Sun, and I think if we want our Sun to act in the ways we want it to act, we will inevitably HAVE to intervene...correctly...umm...and I mean correctly to the ENTH!
Scientists find a big drop in the strength of solar magnetic fields
Tan while you can, that way, when we all die, you can at least say, "Well...I had a NICE TAN!" HaHaHa

 

[ALPHA ROMEO UNIFORM]

Install the 3D SUN app on your ipod touch or iphone...its basically a portal to the NASA Heliophysics Division SDO project. I get nice push notifications when the sun decides to go berserk for the day--also has nice (really nice) high definition videos and photos.

At least we aren't in the T-Tauri wind phase ....that would really suck.

What better way to stimulate the world economy than allocating funds to refit the electrical and communication infrastructure to make it less vulnerable to solar wind storms (which is a real threat). Also, while we are at it, might as well come up with cost-effective methods to capture the sun's .... exuberance.

Major concern and can it be taxed?

 

[Wynne Carluk]

DO we understand the dynamics of the Sun? What all scientific data is pointing out is that we definitely do not. =/

---------- Post added at 10:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 PM ----------

Two points make a line, and over 20 years of close observation make lots and lots of lines, which all seem to point in the same direction right now. Read the story link I gave in my primary post, and just...DON'T be alarmed okeeday? You are correct though. We are in a low solar phase. What is troubling scientists is that the low keeps getting lower. It can only go lower for about five years, and then solar activity will have went beyond the event horizon of being able to right itself. (that would be bad for us.)

---------- Post added at 10:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 PM ----------

No Satcomer, it HASN'T always been like this. We haven't seen this LACK of Solar activity in recorded history. (if you read the link stories I provided in my own post above, you would see this) What is going on with the Sun right now is bringing into question to scientists te world over whether or not we actually DO understand what is going on within the core of the Sun, or even on it's surface now. I suggest that the very foundation of Solar Science is incorrect at its foundation, just as quantum physics and astrophysics are likely needing re-accessed as well.