A Legitimate Concern for 2012?

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dauer

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In our circuit dependent world it would have no doubt a significant impact.
This would depend on what part of the earth was exposed most directly and how long the solar outburst will last.
 
dauer said:
I just read this article about a NASA workshop (Space storm alert: 90 seconds from catastrophe - space - 23 March 2009 - New Scientist) that suggests a massive solar storm that could disrupt the world's power grid is hitting us in September of 2012. The original report can be found here: Severe Space Weather Events--Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts Workshop Report

Assuming we respond to the solar storm effectively, what is the minimal impact a storm like this could have?
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Complete collapse of civilization, frying the reset button. Yet we will all get killer suntans, so the glass is half-full.

:D :rolleyes: :p
 
I would wager that if all that happens is the power grid is fried, then our lives as Western world citizens would be all chaotic, but much of the world's population who live in subsistence based economies with no electricity anyway would just be life as usual.

Up here in the mountains, I imagine we'd react about the same in the short-term as we have to the regular floods that wipe out our power for days. People just have candles for light and firewood for heat. It's not that hard to cook basics on a fire, either.

If it lasted a long time, all hell would break loose in terms of banking and whatnot, but the more remote you are and the more able to get at a food supply without the capitalist market system, the less you'd be impacted in a negative way.

I rather relish the idea of everyone losing all their money at once and having to start over. Egalitarianism, ho.

Of course, people would be stupid and unable to see an opportunity to build something better. It'd probably be more like rioting in the streets if you live in a city. Perhaps even during a short-lived grid meltdown, as everyone tries to grab what they can in panic.
 
Thank goodness we can replace blown fuses. :)

More seriously, we've seen major solar activity before, and this report seems to be suggesting a scenario rather than a prediction. We've seen this discussed in the scientific community for a few years so the presumption is that there are contingency plans (though I won't hold my breath!). More likely, though, I think, is some degree of disruption, but also quite manageable.

That's just my 2c, though - I think my cynicism has been well-rounded by the Y2K disaster predicted to befall us. :)
 
Lots of guesses for the US:

The military(s) of the world would not lose power, and bases are designed to recuperate quickly from such disasters. Military hospitals would try to pick up the slack as civilian ones struggled along on reserve power. Many commercial ships and planes would probably be operational again within days or weeks. Within 50 days, large portions of major US cities would have power for commerce, transportation and radio - despite the difficulty with installing transformers. Power rationing and military rule would also help to keep the current flowing. Auto garages would gouge customers with incredible repair costs -- even worse than now. Copper and aluminum prices would likely rise to a premium. Some government officials might get fired. Governments would panic over finances, and the world would stand upon the knife's edge of war & peace. Strangely, the buying power of cash would suddenly increase. People that were used to air-conditioning would become very interested in moving northwards.

It would be good for infrastructure, shifting trade routes and possibly decentralizing industry again. Public awareness of our dependency upon poor power grids might get the world to shift to low temperature superconducting grids, possibly underground, things like that. If we survived it, we would be ready to build even bigger.
 
It is not possible for us to predict such a solar storm over 3 years in advance.

We have had bad ones in the past with localised disruption and no long lasting effects.

To worry about it is like worrying about that 10-15x stellar mass black hole that we cannot see is heading towards us on a collision course. (Gabriel told me in a dream at the behest of the "boss").
 
Pathless said:
Complete collapse of civilization, frying the reset button. Yet we will all get killer suntans, so the glass is half-full.:D :rolleyes: :p
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I'll put my computer in a Faraday cage, back up my files to CD and DVD and start working more predominantly on laptop and battery power.:) I'm already using a UPS. When the time comes, I will disconnect it from the mains and put everything inside the Faraday cage.

But I don't want to be living in the Faraday cage for the whole of 2012. Will someone please let me know several days in advance when it comes?

Thanks.

path_of_one said:
If it lasted a long time, all hell would break loose in terms of banking and whatnot, but the more remote you are and the more able to get at a food supply without the capitalist market system, the less you'd be impacted in a negative way.
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Oh boy, in that case I will rapidly withdraw my money when the time draws near. I will put the notes in a small container in some secluded place in my home.

Hopefully, I will only be one of a very few who do that. I've heard that bank runs aren't good for the economy. Huge numbers of people withdrawing money in a short amount of time causes huge numbers of bank bankruptcies and a breakdown in the banking system. But in the end, I'd probably be one of the richest people in the country.:D Hallelujah!

path_of_one said:
I rather relish the idea of everyone losing all their money at once and having to start over. Egalitarianism, ho.
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path_of_one said:
Of course, people would be stupid and unable to see an opportunity to build something better. It'd probably be more like rioting in the streets if you live in a city. Perhaps even during a short-lived grid meltdown, as everyone tries to grab what they can in panic.
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Rioting! Oh boy. It's time to be a vigilante! I shall install a large capacitor and charge it up to 500-1000 volts so that a burglar who tries to climb over my fence is electrocuted. I will set up my own security system, with cameras and semi-automated guns. Image processing software will identify humans and automatically aim my weapons. I will dedicate a particular room to be my command centre.

In addition, there will be booby traps and trapdoors.

I will learn kung fu and Taekwondo and carry a knife in my pocket.

Intruders will be captured, tied up, interrogated, put in the boot of my car and eventually shipped to Africa. This will happen after I have taken their wallet, cash, keys, robbed their house, their bank, their car, etc. I will sell their car and keep the proceeds. They rob me. I rob them.
 
Except for a date used for the purposes of the opening dramatization I don't see a date predicted in the article or the NAS report.
 
The main thing, Paladin, is your metal suit has to go. You could get electrocuted.
 
Paladin said:
It's really a portable Faraday cage :)
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Ha! That's what you think, but your precious 'Faraday Cage' is no longer grounded! Its ground was damaged when you mistakenly bumped into my personal force field! Plus I just electrocuted you.
 
I saw an interesting piece of fiction at the theater this weekend named “Knowing.” Interestingly enough it depicted the end of days being climaxed with a sort of solar super-flare. Scientifically do-able, if one were prone to worrying about such things. They also chose to depict it as occurring during a time period when multiple planets were in alignment, so the same solar flare essentially wiped the solar system clean. If I am not mistaken, that date in December 2012 is when a similar planetary alignment occurs for real.

We can all see things described in the Apocalyptic texts that have recently come to pass and others that have not yet. The bottom line is that none of us knows when our finite number of days will end and when we will be called. That, of itself, seems like a good reason to make ease with G-d, leave nothing unresolved and not to allow there to be contention between our fellows.

Wheeewww. I think I gave myself a headache with all that!
 
I saw that one, too. That movie gets a 10 in the Weird category, plus another 10 for Nick being in it. He always plays interesting parts, like in this one he's a Prof at MIT. In another good one, he was an EMT.

In Originality, it gets only a 5.
Actually there are many films with similar themes, like City of Ember, the Matrix, Aeon Flux, another one I can't remember the name of with a virgin man who grows up in a fallout shelter, and there are several more for sure. You could almost have a separate film sub-category for this grouping.
 
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