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by jjoonathan 1260 days ago
> Another Carrington event would likely be catastrophic.

I've seen plenty of breathless doomsday porn on the subject, but I will go a considerable distance out on a branch to charitably assume that you did not mistake any of this for actual analysis and instead formed your opinion on the basis of something a bit more credible (or at least thoughtfully conducted). I'd be interested in reading that. Could you link me? Thanks.
2 comments
Phlarp 1260 days ago
Depends how you feel about electromagnetism? Do electromagnetic waves moving through space induce voltage on a conductor?

If yes, a sufficiently powerful solar storm could easily destroy electrical transmission lines, fry every inductive motor on the planet and (if strong enough) permanently disable every consumer grade radio in existence.

The western world would have a very bad time.

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lstodd 1260 days ago
It'll fry electrical distribution.

Motors and electronics apart from ones in orbit will not be affected.

This will be enough.

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giardia 1260 days ago
If you read the wiki of the Carrington event, telegraph operators were getting electrocuted and the pylons were throwing sparks because of the EM induction. I could be wrong, but this doesn't sound like an event the grid or consumer electronics are designed to handle.

Some people today estimate that you really only need to take down around a dozen key power stations to essentially take down the whole grid in the lower 48. If the Carrington event was indeed worldwide, we wouldn't be able to get back to where we were for a while. We're talking little or no electricity, little or no radio, etc.

Again, the question really comes down to "What are the odds?" The CE seems to be very, very unlikely. If there were a handful of historical accounts of aurora in equatorial regions worldwide I think we'd be much more proactive about it.

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