Solar Flares, Dangers and Near Misses

Most of the time we are all glad to see the sun emerge as dawn in the morning. Another day, perhaps a warmer day than yesterday, just because the sun has made an appearance. Beyond that sunny facade there are dangers — solar flares, or the more technical name coronal mass ejections (CME)

Most people pay little attention to the issue of these events wreaking devastation to our digital technology here on earth. It isn't like this hazard is in the news every day. Like active volcanoes that have not erupted in many years, even decades, those sleeping giants are time bombs waiting to go off. People call them mountains, when they should be calling them volcanoes. 

There is this short, four-minute YouTube videohighlights how close we came to having a flare/CME impact earth back in 2012. 

If you are just now tuning into this hazard, you can find out about the formal warning system the United States has to warn of CME. A warning that gives us only minutes, not hours.

And, if you think we are prepared for these events — think again. Check out the book, Blackout Wars: State Initiatives To Achieve Preparedness Against An Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Catastrophe. The Kindle version is only $2.99. The book is not a work of fiction! I highly recommend it for your reading. Our collective lack of preparedness should worry everyone!

Note: this was what FEMA had for Feb. 19 on their Daily Operations Brief:

•  Space Weather:
   ○  Past 24 hours: Minor; Geomagnetic storms reaching G1 level occurred
   ○  Next 24 hours: None