Our World Nearly Ended In July

[Eighthman]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140318154940.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+News%29

If bullets keep missing us, does someone up there like us?

[Sinny]

I'll re-pharse that for you:

The worlds electricity was nearly knocked out by the Sun. 

[Eighthman]

Do you fully understand what would happen to our world if we got hit with another Carrington event? Much more than just a brief power outage...... 

Much more.

[WarToad]

Do you fully understand what would happen to our world if we got hit with another Carrington event? Much more than just a brief power outage...... 

Much more.

I'd argue it would be a good thing.  A very good thing in the long run.  It would make us rethink our power supply, power grid, power... everything.  Change.

[The Seeker]

Wartoad, I can't see how it could be considered good; to the survivors, maybe, but doubtful...

loss of electricity worldwide would result in immense loss of life in most countries since most of the population tends to survive off packaged foodstuffs...heaven help them if they had to forage,hunt, fish, or grow food, live in the dark without running water, heat, gasoline, etc....


seeker

[deuem]

Yes Seeker it would put an instant panic on the streets. Millions would be searching for food in 3 days. My life as it is now would stop. Not a good thing to try.

[zorgon]

loss of electricity worldwide would result in immense loss of life in most countries since most of the population tends to survive off packaged foodstuffs...heaven help them if they had to forage,hunt, fish, or grow food, live in the dark without running water, heat, gasoline, etc....

One cannot forage for food on a massive scale like if all the cities went powerless. The stores would be empty in days... You can't just go out to the farms and help yourself  It would be like a swarm of locusts stripping the land in hours  and then what?

Everyone on medical suppost would die.  Nope it would not be a pretty sight 

But I suppose that would be one way to cull the herd of that 80% of useless eaters that CTer's are always accusing the PTB of wanting to do

[PLAYSWITHMACHINES]

Well if they don't do it, seems we would do it ourselves

Yes a big solar flare would cause havoc allright.

I won't go into the technicalities of what it would do to satellites & power grids, but let's say it wouldn't work out too well......

This event & others like it are a wake-up call.
Get off the grid.

If i am right, we can push some very interesting & simple stopgap measures which we need to publicise as much as possible.
And the best publicity is to build hundreds of them & sell them.
That might cause problems, but there are plenty of legal loopholes so that we can sell these (for a very modest price) without getting thrown into jail, or worse....

[deuem]

If i am right, we can push some very interesting & simple stopgap measures which we need to publicise as much as possible.

If youre right the internet will also be down so all will have to rely on that thing they used to call mail without the E. My internet, refridge and elevator will be the first thing I will miss and I am moving next week to a much higher level. Would need to do the stair master daily.

I re-thought about the food and it should only change the imports. All local food comes in off the farms daily as it is now. They don't use refrigeration for that now so no changes. People in cities would need to find the food markets. If they can remember where they are and only eat local foods. In the really large cities here there would be this problem but where I am it wouldn't be that bad. I wonder if anyone would even notice. It would mostly hurt the middle class and above deep in the city.

[rdunk]

The massive solar blast that almost wreaked havoc on Earth, happening on July 23. 2012! This article describes this one as being "one of the most massive solar blasts ever"!

IMO, the importance of this article is not lessened by the fact that it happen nearly two years ago because, once again, we are put on notice that a "bigg'un" like this could drastically impede our lives on this planet.

To again quote: " "The cost of an extreme space weather event, if it hits Earth, could reach trillions of dollars with a potential recovery time of 4-10 years," professor at China's State Key Laboratory of Space Weather Ying D. Liu warned in a press release".

And another IMO, the conclusions in this article about needing "more observations of the Sun" would not make a ding-bats difference in the outcomes, unless our technology is better prepared to withstand the "hit", and the population is prepared to survive without some of our basic capabilities - like "how do we survive without a power grid" for possibly years?? With no electricity, pretty much all of industry shuts down, including gas pumps and refineries. Electricity is now the key component that keeps "this ship" operating".

I wonder, is a nuclear power plant completely self sufficient, with no dependance upon the power grid for incoming power? I also wonder, what happens to a nuclear power plant if there is no grid to send the power to, and, is there an operations plan for a no "power grid environment" for our nuclear plants?? IE - when the bigg'un hits, what is the instant affect upon the nuclear power facilities??

A brief fox News article - http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/19/massive-solar-blast-that-almost-wreaked-havoc-on-earth/?intcmp=features

[rdunk]

If youre right the internet will also be down so all will have to rely on that thing they used to call mail without the E. My internet, refridge and elevator will be the first thing I will miss and I am moving next week to a much higher level. Would need to do the stair master daily.

So Deuem, what is your plan for moving the basic mail? Before electricity, it was done by "Pony Express and Stagecoach, but we probably are a little shy on horses now, for doing that. Maybe some provision for limited refining could provide some capability for power selected "engine powered" services.

IMO without electricity, it would quickly become "hell on Earth" because pretty much no one here has lived without the benefits it has given to us, throughout every aspect of our lives and living. Things would likely get pretty savage pretty quick!

[The Seeker]

My point exactly, Zorgon; you cannot forage in a concrete jungle; without gas and diesel fuel the highly efficient farming of today reverts back to plowing with a team of mules, no trucks or trains to transport it...

yup, it would get ugly real quick...


seeker

[PLAYSWITHMACHINES]

Answers to above;

Hmm i'm in a huge city i will be stuffed without power & transport to get me to the farming regions.

Getting off the grid is not that big an issue, plenty of alternatives, we are working very hard in that department.

Comms also pretty easy, get on the SW again, 12 volts, with sidebands you can cover half the world with just 10 watts...and we may need to learn Morse code again, and build huge spark transmitters

I can't wait

ETA: maybe a BIG taser mounted on the front of my car to get other foragers out the way

ETA again; sure i also plan to dig up the back garden, got an assortment of seeds ready to go. Need to get a water butt though, without power no fresh water round here

[zorgon]

Before electricity, it was done by "Pony Express and Stagecoach, but we probably are a little shy on horses now, for doing that.

Pony express started out here in the West  We still have herds of Wild Mustangs

IMO without electricity, it would quickly become "hell on Earth" because pretty much no one here has lived without the benefits it has given to us, throughout every aspect of our lives and living. Things would likely get pretty savage pretty quick!

And anyone who had power via a generator or solar system would be a magnet for the hoards Even having oil lanterns going you would stand out. My house is the only one with lights when the power goes out

Have one of these in every room


[/quote]

[zorgon]

IMO, the importance of this article is not lessened by the fact that it happen nearly two years ago because, once again, we are put on notice that a "bigg'un" like this could drastically impede our lives on this planet.

Thing is though since that major blackout on the east coast, we have come a long way in making the grid less fragile.

back then it was the old devices and the way the system was wired that caused a cascade effect as each failure put more stress on the rest of the grid trying to compensate