Comments on: What People in 1859 Thought of the Great Solar Storm (Hint: They Were Very Confused)

By: Kyle

Kyle — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 13:02:25 +0000

Most cars rely on tiny computers to start their engines and the countries that are facing the sun the cars will suddenly not start.

The government wants us to go *electric* and we do not have anywhere near enough electricity to handle it as they require lots of charging.
Sure you can put up lots of stations but they still take power.

It’s not about what kind of resources you use for energy but how wisely you use it. Getting rid of Nuclear power plants will only spell more trouble as they are the cleanest if ran properly and the people in charge don’t cut corners on taking care of them.
The power plant in Japan that blew up was overdue for a syst check and they recently made a new kind Nuclear power plant that eliminates the waste build up though I cannot remember what I heard.

Why can’t we be like the 1950s in terms of spirit with a great vision of sustainable energy for the future instead of shutting down everything we’ve got because of this or that issue which causes the *Greenies* to fling crap at anybody who dares voice an opposite view?

By: Willard 23

Willard 23 — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 21:15:34 +0000

I worked in a power plant for 33 years. I believe in 2004 the east coast experience a backout that last two days simple because some branches got into some power lines and started a cascaded that finally was stopped by opening interconnects that tie most of the power grid together over the entire country. It would only reqire that some transformers burn up or be effected. I believe the power grid in Canada experieced a sever effect from a flare several years ago. If the generator rotors are fried then you could be looking at a year to eighteen months to get a new one. Main power transformers at least one year.

By: ET

ET — Sun, 20 May 2012 15:01:36 +0000

Meh, I have an acoustic guitar and a bike.

By: DP

DP — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:37:17 +0000

wow! Imagine a world without cell phones or texting. – the end is near

By: Iain

Iain — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:46:20 +0000

Oh Anne.
Nuclear generated power and diesel generated power and hydro generated power all make the same kind of electricity, the kind that works and runs things for us. Once a nuke is running it has the power to run all of it’s own subsystems, even the air conditioner and coffee pot.
Also if the nuke plant operators see a 2 year window for the next diesel delivery they would conduct an orderly shutdown, not just run until there is a catastrophe.
Give your head a shake.

By: Iain

Iain — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:39:36 +0000

Oh Mike! lol! u said
“If area residents were provided with instructions couldn’t the generators be shut down and people living near the big breakers installed on power poles could throw those”

Lol again. I see fried people all over the continent. High voltage work is the domain of properly trained High Voltage Electricians. It is not a Saturday afternoon 2 hour lecture!

By: Anne

Anne — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:54:32 +0000

From what I’ve heard, the nuclear power stations are the biggest worry.

Because they rely on ordinary power to drive their cooling plants.

And the diesel to run the back-up generator is only stock-piled for periods like a week.

When what we are looking at with this sort of solar-induced power shutdown is years.

Which means every nuclear power station on earth melting down like (or worse) Fukushima.

Which is why we should be urgently starting to shut down every nuclear power plant on earth right now (they take years to shut down too).

This is serious.

By: Pablo

Pablo — Fri, 11 May 2012 03:01:43 +0000

I just hope future solar flares will not be strong enough to affect the electrical workings of neurons. Furthermore, if ever, I hope the effect will be on the positive side.

By: odin

odin — Fri, 11 May 2012 00:57:01 +0000

LOL, if a solar storm is strong enough to fry transformers on a power grid, I’m afraid transformers are the least of your worries.

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:56:23 +0000

Good article – love that pianting, cheers.

Co-incidentally enough, I’m currently reading ‘The Sun Kings -The Unexpected Tragedy of Richard Carrington & the Tale of How Modern Astronomy Began’ by Stuart Clark in which the 1859 flare plays a key role. Great non-fiction book that I’d highly recommend if I may say so here.

I’d also like to answer (#2) tOM Trottier’s question with this link :

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2011/02/the_facts_on_solar_storms.php

Via Ethan Siegel’s Starts with a Bang blog if that’s okay. My apologies and please let me know if not.