Bad weather on the way, E Storm!

[injin man]

This perhaps is just the beginning, magnetic particle storms like one that
wiped out the newly built telegraph's in the 1880's except that today the
damage could be way worse. Most of our grid and major electronics are
shielded to some degree or other, but places around the globe are fooked.
China is already experiencing outages.

Diesels don't have to have electronics

Story is here if you want to get a heads up:http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/67444b2c-3d13-11e0-bbff-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1EY6o4lZH

[veggie]

As big as the recent flare was, it's just the first in a series.
2011 is the beginning of the current cycle which peaks in spring 2013.
The severity and subsequent impacts of these EM storms is determined by the line of impact.
The reason the recent storm was just a pretty sight in the night sky was because the earth only caught the edge of the storm.

It could be that we will never catch a 'straight on" storm in our lifetimes, and in that respect, it really is a non-event.
However, with the frequency and strength of future storms to increase, so do the odds of accidentally getting in their way.
(from my point of view only   )

veggie

[injin man]

Jens,

I didn't know you were a Space Weather Scientist.

[squarebob]

Lots of good info here:

http://spaceweather.com/