Slashdot Mirror
Radioactive Particles From Huge Solar Storm Found In Greenland (theguardian.com)
Traces of an enormous solar storm that battered the atmosphere and showered Earth in radioactive particles more than 2,500 years ago have been discovered under the Greenland ice sheet. The Guardian reports: Scientists studying ice nearly half a kilometer beneath the surface found a band of radioactive elements unleashed by a storm that struck the planet in 660BC. It was at least 10 times more powerful than any recorded by instruments set up to detect such events in the past 70 years, and as strong as the most intense known solar storm, which hit Earth in AD775. The discovery means that the worst-case scenarios used in risk planning for serious space weather events underestimate how powerful solar storms can be.
Raimund Muscheler, a professor of quaternary sciences at Lund University in Sweden, and his team analyzed two ice cores drilled from the Greenland ice sheet and found that both contained spikes in isotopes of beryllium and chlorine that date back to about 660BC. The material appears to be the radioactive remnants of a solar storm that battered the atmosphere. The scientists calculate that the storm sent at least 10 billion protons per square centimeter into the atmosphere. "A solar proton event of such magnitude occurring in modern times could result in severe disruption of satellite-based technologies, high frequency radio communication and space-based navigation systems," they write in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Raimund Muscheler, a professor of quaternary sciences at Lund University in Sweden, and his team analyzed two ice cores drilled from the Greenland ice sheet and found that both contained spikes in isotopes of beryllium and chlorine that date back to about 660BC. The material appears to be the radioactive remnants of a solar storm that battered the atmosphere. The scientists calculate that the storm sent at least 10 billion protons per square centimeter into the atmosphere. "A solar proton event of such magnitude occurring in modern times could result in severe disruption of satellite-based technologies, high frequency radio communication and space-based navigation systems," they write in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
There is currently more electronic infrastructure in place and at risk than, say, was present under the rule of King Cynewulf of Wessex.
Can you imagine being in transit for eight months on the way to Mars only to get severely toasted in the middle?
Sounds like a crappy way to die.
Well we missed a bullet in 2012 - more where that came from!
When the power grid goes out, gasoline won't save you.
A.D. 774. This year the Northumbians banished their king, Alred, from York at Easter-tide; and chose Ethelred, the son of Mull, for their lord, who reigned four winters. This year also appeared in the heavens a red crucifix, after sunset; the Mercians and the men of Kent fought at Otford; and wonderful serpents were seen in the land of the South-Saxons.
We always picture this worse case scenario of some sort of EMP taking us back to the 1800's. However from my experience. Where I was working, a lightning bolt struck my companies power supply, and fried some equipment up from the ground wires, which created a major outage event, we still had limited damage, we replaced a couple power supplies, replace a couple of fuses in the electronics, and needed to move some cables on a networking switch, as some modules were burned out. We lost about 4 hours worth of work, and the customers average downtime was about 2 hours. It sucked, but it was far from total system loss.
You're comparing a lightning strike on a single location to a CME that would hit around half the planet at arrival. If we're lucky the power companies will be able to disconnect the critical infrastructure from the grid before it hits. And If we're even luckier, the least populated half of the planet will be facing the sun when it hits.
Even in a scenario similar to what you described, can you imagine the shortage of all of those parts when that much stuff gets fried on half the planet? Not to mention vehicles with ECM modules getting cooked. If a section of the power grid doesn't get it's large power transformers disconnected in time, then that part of the power grid will be down for a long time. Currently it takes 6 to 24 months to get one built and installed. They're custom built, so you can't just grab a spare, or borrow them from someone. The larger ones weigh over 400 tons and can cost as much as $10 million. The majority of the large transformers in the US are over 40 years old. So it's not like they don't already have some wear on them. But what's the wait time going to be if suddenly 10 of them need to be replaced immediately? Or 50 of them?
Even if only 1/4 of the cars are affected, can you imaging what the roads will be like if this occurred during rush hour? The highways will be shut down until all of those vehicle can be moved. Then you could end up with issues getting fuel out of the stations if there's no power. And getting fuel to the stations will be an issue. So moving food into the larger cities will become a big problem. Larger metropolitan areas will have the worst time with it. How many days can they go without water or working sewage treatment? Or without power and food? When there's a water main break or a pump goes down in a city, they have the manpower and parts in place to fix it. But if it's a city wide issue, then what's going to happen? And if the streets are clogged with cars that can't move, they'll be in the way too. You also won't be able to bring in help from other cities, as they will have the same issue too.
Look up the Carrington Even from 1859. There was a similar CME in 2012, but we were fortunate that it didn't strike the earth. If it had occurred 9 days earlier, then the earth would have been directly in it's path. It was estimated in 2013 that such an event would have cost the US alone between $600 billion to $2.6 trillion.