Massive Solar Flare Expectations

How can we prepare for solar flares?  How do we know what to expect if a massive flare is headed for our beautiful blue planet?  We can learn from the history of the Carrington Event.  A normal solar flare takes a few days to reach the earth, however, during the 1859 event it reached our planet in a mere 18 hours.  If a similar event were to occur today, the earths magnetic field would be unable to catch all the particles.  This would result in an aurora that would no longer just be isolated to the poles and there may be auroras over the United States and the Caribbean.  Most of us would probably just see this as a fascinating display of color and beauty, however, we would be directly impacted if our electronics were stopped by this event.  What do you think would happen if such a huge event would cause power grid outages that would last years?  Would we be able to survive or do you think that mass chaos would break out?  

Can a solar flare kill us?

Everyone likes a litte trivia, right?  I thought I'd share some trivia about solar flares with those of you in blogger land today.

 

 

Can a solar flare kill us?

 

 

In reality, only a small amount of the energy released from solar flares will actually reach the earth because we are protected by our planet's atmosphere. 

Large asteroid headed our way? Pray says NASA

That's about all the United States - or anyone for that matter - could do at this point about unknown asteroids and meteors that may be on a collision course with Earth, Bolden told lawmakers at a U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee hearing on Tuesday. 

An asteroid estimated to be have been about 55 feet (17 meters) in diameter exploded on Feb. 15 over Chelyabinsk, Russia, generating shock waves that shattered windows and damaged buildings. More than 1,500 people were injured.

Later that day, a larger, unrelated asteroid discovered last year passed about 17,200 miles (27,681 km) from Earth, closer than the network of television and weather satellites that ring the planet. 

The events "serve as evidence that we live in an active solar system with potentially hazardous objects passing through our neighborhood with surprising frequency," said Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Texas Democrat. 

"We were fortunate that the events of last month were simply an interesting coincidence rather than a catastrophe," said Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, who called the hearing to learn what is being done and how much money is needed to better protect the planet. 

Nasa has found and is tracking about 95 percent of the largest objects flying near Earth, those that are .62 miles (1 km) or larger in diameter. 

"An asteroid of that size, a kilometer or bigger, could plausibly end civilization," White House science advisor John Holdren told legislators at the same hearing. 

But only about 10 percent of an estimated 10,000 potential "city-killer" asteroids, those with a diameter of about 165 feet (50 meters) have been found, Holdren added. 

On average, objects of that size are estimated to hit Earth about once every 1,000 years. 

"From the information we have, we don't know of an asteroid that will threaten the population of the United States," Bolden said. "But if it's coming in three weeks, pray." 

In addition to stepping up its monitoring efforts and building international partnerships, Nasa is looking at developing technologies to divert an object that may be on a collision course with Earth. 

"The odds of a near-Earth object strike causing massive casualties and destruction of infrastructure are very small, but the potential consequences of such an event are so large it makes sense to takes the risk seriously," Holdren said. 

About 66 million years ago, an object 6 miles (10 km) in diameter is believed to have smashed into what is now the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, leading to the demise of the dinosaurs, as well as most plant and animal life on Earth. 

The asteroid that exploded over Russia last month was the largest object to hit Earth's atmosphere since the 1908 Tunguska event when an asteroid or comet exploded over Siberia, leveling 80 million trees over more than 830 square miles (2,150 sq km).

Reuters

Literary Yoga?

Literary Yoga?

One of the most difficult things for me is to decide how to find balance.  Do I work on writing my next novel?  Do I spend time with my family?  Do I work on social media?  Or videos, covers, agents, even strange new tan lines?  Since I still love my day job, I’ve got to find ways to successfully divide my time between the things I have to do and the things I’d like to do. 

In my humblish opinion, being successful in today’s publishing world is much different and more complex than any other time in history.  It isn’t necessarily more difficult, as there are so many more venues to showcase authors, but the sheer numbers of authors, publishers, and sites sometimes make it more difficult to be noticed or ‘found’.  While I’ve had decent success as an Indie writer, my goal has always been to become a well-recognized author around the world.  As the party planners for the ‘Historically Famous Author’ parties don’t necessarily care whether my wife and grandmother really love my work, it is important to have a successful platform to build upon. 

So, is it more important to work on my writing, my platform, my family, or my mastery of the Fallen Dog yoga positions?  I wish I could say that I use every moment in pursuit of either happiness or success, but the truth is that I probably waste just as much as I spend fruitfully. Since I have a dream, but live within the real world where I’m only given 24 hours a day and hopefully another 40 years of life, my belief is that I have to find a balance (and not the Sleeping Dog kind) that will help me find both happiness and success.

I try to give the taxpayers (who happen to still be willing to pay my monthly bills) an honest day’s work everyday.  I try to spend quality time with my wife and three daughters.  I try to get the proper amount of sleep, relaxation, and exercise (though I seem to fail on all three more than any other area in my life).  I try to keep up with platform building and social media.  AND, I try to make every minute of my writing time count. 

For those of you who want to succeed in today’s publishing world, my suggestion is to find a way to practice some form of Literary Yoga.  Spend time with your job, your family, your platform building, and your writing.  Don’t let any of them overwhelm the other, but never neglect any of them either.

Dystopian Trailer

Sharing a video to the trailer of Pyrolysis.  Enjoy!

Super Solar Storm Impact

A solar super storm usually occurs every 100 to 200 years.  The largest super storm on record was in 1859 and is referred to as the Carrington Event.  During this time, the technological reliance was nothing like we have today.  In 1859, Europe and North America experienced telegraph communication outages and some reports even consist of fires starting from the heat that flowed through the lines. 

 

A massive solar storm today would have an impact on electricity grids, satellites, aircraft, GPS, and mobile devices. The increased electric currents caused by the geomagnetic storms can cause instability in the power grid systems causing them to crash.  Satellites are at the front line of solar storms; some of our older satellites may take the brunt of such a flare and could have residual effects long after the event.  Many of the satellites have been designed to withstand a large majority of the solar extremes.  That being said, it is difficult to effectively predict what will happen if a major storm like the 1859 event. occurred today.  Additionally, the GPS systems, navigation systems, and aircraft could be impacted with the secondary particles and wreak havoc on the delicate systems. 

End of the World as We Know It

 

For those of you who are experience ‘doomsday phobia’, don’t feel as though you are alone.  There seem to be three categories of individuals when it comes to the end of the world as we know it – those who are cheering it on, those who fear it, and those who think it’s all a bunch of malarkey.  I personally fall into the first category and say ‘bring it on’!  I’ve got my bug-out-bag prepped and ready to go.  I want to challenge myself and see if I can live off the grid.  However, the Mayan’s predictions were slightly incorrect (or maybe those reading it didn’t understand the date), but there is hope for those who were cheering it on.  Museum of Discovery’s Science After Dark is bringing information on how the end could actually occur.  For those of you who are fearful of the end – ‘after dark’ has you covered!  There will be a cash bar available at this event so you are able to soothe your nerves with some ‘liquid calm’ of your choice!  Check it out if you can!