NASA-Funded Study Reveals Hazards of Severe Space Weather
01.05.09

[img]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/299632main_sun_hazards_lg.jpg[/img]
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The image shows a scenario presented by a study participant of extreme space weather that leads to a partial, wide-spread collapse of the U.S. electric power grid with enormous consequences for the affected population. Improvements in space weather forecasting, public awareness and infrastructure preparedness can mitigate the effects.


A NASA-funded study describes how extreme solar eruptions could have severe consequences for communications, power grids and other technology on Earth.

The National Academy of Sciences in Washington conducted the study. The resulting report provides some of the first clear economic data that effectively quantifies today's risk of extreme conditions in space driven by magnetic activity on the sun and disturbances in the near-Earth environment. Instances of extreme space weather are rare and are categorized with other natural hazards that have a low frequency but high consequences.

"Obviously, the sun is Earth's life blood," said Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "To mitigate possible public safety issues, it is vital that we better understand extreme space weather events caused by the sun's activity."

Besides emitting a continuous stream of plasma called the solar wind, the sun periodically releases billions of tons of matter called coronal mass ejections. These immense clouds of material, when directed toward Earth, can cause large magnetic storms in the magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. Such space weather can affect the performance and reliability of space-borne and ground-based technological systems.

Space weather can produce solar storm electromagnetic fields that induce extreme currents in wires, disrupting power lines, causing wide-spread blackouts and affecting communication cables that support the Internet. Severe space weather also produces solar energetic particles and the dislocation of the Earth's radiation belts, which can damage satellites used for commercial communications, global positioning and weather forecasting. Space weather has been recognized as causing problems with new technology since the invention of the telegraph in the 19th century.

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A severe space weather event is likely when an intense flare occurs on the Earth-facing side of the sun. In 2003, this flare (left image) is followed immediately by an enormous interplanetary blast wave (right image) called coronal mass ejection or CME that propagates rapidly away from the sun towards Earth. Depending on severity and nature of the storm, the collision with Earth's magnetic field called a geomagnetic storm can affect satellites, air travel and power grids. Credit: NASA

A catastrophic failure of commercial and government infrastructure in space and on the ground can be mitigated through raising public awareness, improving vulnerable infrastructure and developing advanced forecasting capabilities. Without preventive actions or plans, the trend of increased dependency on modern space-weather sensitive assets could make society more vulnerable in the future.

NASA requested the study to assess the potential damage from significant space weather during the next 20 years. National and international experts from industry, government and academia participated in the study. The report documents the possibility of a space weather event that has societal effects and causes damage similar to natural disasters on Earth.

"From a public policy perspective, it is quite significant that we have begun the extremely challenging task of assessing space weather impacts in a quantitative way," said Daniel Baker, professor and director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Baker chaired the panel that prepared the report.

"Whether it is terrestrial catastrophes or extreme space weather incidents, the results can be devastating to modern societies that depend in a myriad of ways on advanced technological systems," said Baker. "We were delighted that NASA helped support bringing together dozens of world experts from industry and government to share their experiences and begin planning of improved public policy strategies."


The sun is currently near the minimum of its 11-year activity cycle. It is expected that solar storms will increase in frequency and intensity toward the next solar maximum, expected to occur around 2012.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/spaceweather_hazard.html

The poster of this thread is wise.

though it might be that date but the latest events and happenings in the world today shows that the world is really coming to an end.
All the events of the last days written in the bible is coming fastly to pass, anyone that doubts this probably dosent have a bible or don't read bible.

The US are fighting for a ONE World order which will result in ONE CURRENCY, ONE PASSPORT and everything will be ONE.

so lets shine our eyes and 2012 there are Strong indications that illuminate are trying to take over the world from where they will hand power over to their leader. Marry ur bibles people

Solar Storm Warning


March 10, 2006: It's official: Solar minimum has arrived. Sunspots have all but vanished. Solar flares are nonexistent. The sun is utterly quiet.

Like the quiet before a storm.

This week researchers announced that a storm is coming--the most intense solar maximum in fifty years. The prediction comes from a team led by Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). "The next sunspot cycle will be 30% to 50% stronger than the previous one," she says. If correct, the years ahead could produce a burst of solar activity second only to the historic Solar Max of 1958.

That was a solar maximum. The Space Age was just beginning: Sputnik was launched in Oct. 1957 and Explorer 1 (the first US satellite) in Jan. 1958. In 1958 you couldn't tell that a solar storm was underway by looking at the bars on your cell phone; cell phones didn't exist. Even so, people knew something big was happening when Northern Lights were sighted three times in Mexico. A similar maximum now would be noticed by its effect on cell phones, GPS, weather satellites and many other modern technologies.

[img]http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2006/03/09/10mar_stormwarning_resources/aurora1958_med.jpg[/img]
Intense auroras over Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1958.

Dikpati's prediction is unprecedented. In nearly-two centuries since the 11-year sunspot cycle was discovered, scientists have struggled to predict the size of future maxima—and failed. Solar maxima can be intense, as in 1958, or barely detectable, as in 1805, obeying no obvious pattern.

The key to the mystery, Dikpati realized years ago, is a conveyor belt on the sun.

We have something similar here on Earth—the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt, popularized in the sci-fi movie The Day After Tomorrow. It is a network of currents that carry water and heat from ocean to ocean--see the diagram below. In the movie, the Conveyor Belt stopped and threw the world's weather into chaos.

[img]http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2006/03/09/10mar_stormwarning_resources/ConvBelt_strip.jpg[/img]
Earth's "Great Ocean Conveyor Belt."

The sun's conveyor belt is a current, not of water, but of electrically-conducting gas. It flows in a loop from the sun's equator to the poles and back again. Just as the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt controls weather on Earth, this solar conveyor belt controls weather on the sun. Specifically, it controls the sunspot cycle.

Solar physicist David Hathaway of the National Space Science & Technology Center (NSSTC) explains: "First, remember what sunspots are--tangled knots of magnetism generated by the sun's inner dynamo. A typical sunspot exists for just a few weeks. Then it decays, leaving behind a 'corpse' of weak magnetic fields."

Enter the conveyor belt.

"The top of the conveyor belt skims the surface of the sun, sweeping up the magnetic fields of old, dead sunspots. The 'corpses' are dragged down at the poles to a depth of 200,000 km where the sun's magnetic dynamo can amplify them. Once the corpses (magnetic knots) are reincarnated (amplified), they become buoyant and float back to the surface." Presto—new sunspots!

[img]http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2006/03/09/10mar_stormwarning_resources/conveyorbelt_med.jpg[/img]
The sun's "great conveyor belt."

All this happens with massive slowness. "It takes about 40 years for the belt to complete one loop," says Hathaway. The speed varies "anywhere from a 50-year pace (slow) to a 30-year pace (fast)."

When the belt is turning "fast," it means that lots of magnetic fields are being swept up, and that a future sunspot cycle is going to be intense. This is a basis for forecasting: "The belt was turning fast in 1986-1996," says Hathaway. "Old magnetic fields swept up then should re-appear as big sunspots in 2010-2011."

Like most experts in the field, Hathaway has confidence in the conveyor belt model and agrees with Dikpati that the next solar maximum should be a doozy. But he disagrees with one point. Dikpati's forecast puts Solar Max at 2012. Hathaway believes it will arrive sooner, in 2010 or 2011.

"History shows that big sunspot cycles 'ramp up' faster than small ones," he says. "I expect to see the first sunspots of the next cycle appear in late 2006 or 2007—and Solar Max to be underway by 2010 or 2011."

Who's right? Time will tell. Either way, a storm is coming.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/10mar_stormwarning/

@diluminati, i believe no sane person will choose this name u re answering and am sure u re an Illuminati member dats why u re trying to deceive people that you can deceive.

Please stop deceiving people with your power system this and dat cause i know dats Illuminati formats to deceive people

I Think You Are 100% Right

so what is wrong with the world been controlled by the internet? smh

Solar System - Did you notice? In February 2001, the Sun did a magnetic polar shift. The next one is due again in 2012. NASA scientists who monitor the Sun say that our star's awesome magnetic field flipped 22 months ago, signaling the arrival of a solar maximum.

But it wasn't so obvious to the average human. (like y'all gonna be when it goes down)

The Sun's magnetic north pole, which was in the northern hemisphere just a few months ago, now points south. It's a topsy-turvy situation, but not an unexpected one. "This always happens around the time of solar maximum," says David Hathaway, a solar physicist at the Marshall Space Flight Center. "The magnetic poles exchange places at the peak of the sunspot cycle.

In fact, it's a good indication that Solar Max is really here." The Sun's magnetic poles will remain as they are now, with the north magnetic pole pointing through the Sun's southern hemisphere, until the year 2012 when they will reverse again. This transition happens, as far as we know, at the peak of every 11-year sunspot cycle -- like clockwork. Earth’s magnetic field also flips, but with less regularity. Consecutive reversals are spaced 5 thousand years to 50 million years apart. The last reversal happened 740,000 years ago.

Some researchers think our planet is overdue for another one, but nobody knows exactly when the next reversal might occur. Although solar and terrestrial magnetic fields behave differently, they do have something in common: their shape. During solar minimum the Sun's field, like Earth's, resembles that of an iron bar magnet, with great closed loops near the equator and open field lines near the poles. Scientists call such a field a "dipole." The Sun's dipolar field is about as strong as a refrigerator magnet, or 50 gauss (a unit of magnetic intensity). Earth's magnetic field is 100 times weaker. When solar maximum arrives and sunspots pepper the face of the Sun, our star's magnetic field begins to change. Sunspots are places where intense magnetic loops -- hundreds of times stronger than the ambient dipole field -- poke through the photosphere. "Meridional flows on the Sun's surface carry magnetic fields from mid-latitude sunspots to the Sun's poles," explains Hathaway. "The poles end up flipping because these flows transport south-pointing magnetic flux to the north magnetic pole, and north-pointing flux to the south magnetic pole." The dipole field steadily weakens as oppositely-directed flux accumulates at the Sun's poles until, at the height of solar maximum, the magnetic poles change polarity and begin to grow in a new direction.

Hathaway noticed the latest polar reversal in a "magnetic butterfly diagram." Using data collected by astronomers at the U.S. National Solar Observatory on Kitt Peak, he plotted the Sun's average magnetic field, day by day, as a function of solar latitude and time from 1975 through the present. The result is a sort of strip chart recording that reveals evolving magnetic patterns on the Sun's surface. "We call it a butterfly diagram," he says, "because sunspots make a pattern in this plot that looks like the wings of a butterfly." In the butterfly diagram, pictured below, the Sun's polar fields appear as strips of uniform color near 90 degrees latitude.

When the colors change (in this case from blue to yellow or vice versa) it means the polar fields have switched signs. The ongoing changes are not confined to the space immediately around our star, Hathaway added. The Sun's magnetic field envelops the entire solar system in a bubble that scientists call the "heliosphere." The heliosphere extends 50 to 100 astronomical units (AU) beyond the orbit of Pluto. Inside it is the solar system -- outside is interstellar space. "Changes in the Sun's magnetic field are carried outward through the heliosphere by the solar wind," explains Steve Suess, another solar physicist at the Marshall Space Flight Center. "It takes about a year for disturbances to propagate all the way from the Sun to the outer bounds of the heliosphere." Because the Sun rotates (once every 27 days) solar magnetic fields corkscrew outwards in the shape of an Archimedian spiral. Far above the poles the magnetic fields twist around like a child's Slinky toy. Because of all the twists and turns, "the impact of the field reversal on the heliosphere is complicated," says Hathaway.

Sunspots are sources of intense magnetic knots that spiral outwards even as the dipole field vanishes. The heliosphere doesn't simply wink out of existence when the poles flip -- there are plenty of complex magnetic structures to fill the void. Or so the theory goes, Researchers have never seen the magnetic flip happen from the best possible point of view -- that is, from the top down. But now, the unique Ulysses spacecraft may give scientists a reality check. Ulysses, an international joint venture of the European Space Agency and NASA, was launched in 1990 to observe the solar system from very high solar latitudes. Every six years the spacecraft flies 2.2 AU over the Sun's poles. No other probe travels so far above the orbital plane of the planets. "Ulysses just passed under the Sun's south pole," says Suess, a mission co-Investigator. "Now it will loop back and fly over the north pole in the fall." "This is the most important part of our mission," he says. Ulysses last flew over the Sun's poles in 1994 and 1996, during solar minimum, and the craft made several important discoveries about cosmic rays, the solar wind, and more. "Now we get to see the Sun's poles during the other extreme: Solar Max. Our data will cover a complete solar cycle."

http://www.polereversal.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=1

There is no amount of knowledge that can determine when the world will come to an end, join your knowledge of the world with the knowledge of God/ Christ and balance it.

[size=28pt]“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)[/size]

What boils me most is that all these senseless prediction don't happen in Africa particularly Nigeria_ so i believe they're predicting their downfall_Soon, they'll start relocating to Africa for shield__

. . . . .some people link the mayan prediction with the coming of the annunakis. . . .i think there was a topic discussed about planet x sometime on this forum anyway, don't believe the world is ending by 21st dec. . . . .

@Post. Nah!

Thinking of ways I can invest on this.

see you all in 2013!

I felt it will clear ur doubts. For more insights pls google Nostradamus preditions

The End of the World
Of course, not only have the "experts" on the prophets not always been correct - the seers themselves have not always been quite so accurate in their forecasts. Although people keep claiming that "it's the world will end" they often ignore other prophecies he wrote. Nostradamus NEVER said the world would end in 1666, 1999, 2012, 2096, or any of those years. In fact, he was quite clear we would survive through all of these other conflicts, and if we took it upon ourselves, we could change / prevent what was indeed going to happen. Time will tell if the Iraq conflict or, indeed, the World Trade Center attack had put the spark to a bigger barrel. As for the end of the world, Nostradamus predicted it to be the year 3786 or 3797, depending on which Nostradamus expert you believe. Conclusion So, some of the historical events may have Nostradamus predicted were the war with Napoleon, the American Revolution, the Civil War, the rise and the fall of Hitler, events in the British monarchy such as the abdication of Edward VIII, and the assassinations of Lincoln and John and Robert Kennedy. He also predicted three reigns of terror by persons he named as ?antichrists?.

I am prepared. i'm not scared.

godswill4m:

The poster of this thread is wise.

though it might be that date but the latest events and happenings in the world today shows that the world is really coming to an end.
All the events of the last days written in the bible is coming fastly to pass, anyone that doubts this probably dosent have a bible or don't read bible.

The US are fighting for a ONE World order which will result in ONE CURRENCY, ONE PASSPORT and everything will be ONE.

so lets shine our eyes and 2012 there are Strong indications that illuminate are trying to take over the world from where they will hand power over to their leader. Marry ur bibles people

thankyou sir. im glad u can see the angle im coming from. why are americans and the world trying to centralise everything and tie everything to the internet that is intangible and controlled my a sect very soon u will beg to spend your own money cos no one will accept cash and the internet will be locked by the antichrist!!! REPENT NOW!!! the signs are glaring

Oh no, the world will not end, as in, be destroyed-we still have some time left before that time- but surly that time period, 12-12-12(Twelveth  day of the twelveth month of the twelveth year of a century) certainly marks the end of something and a beginning of another. . .

Consider the dates, we can have:
01-01-01
02-02-02
03-03-03
.
.
.
11-11-11
12-12-12

But we can never have: 13-13-13!

So for the day, month and year to repeat themselves, we have to start all over again at 01-01-01 which will always happen in a century.

So even this simple calender maths points to the fact that something is about to end.

All I can say is Brace Yourselves people!

Personally I believe that date  is the time when all the vices of this earth and the catastrophes will have spread  over all parts the world that a forceful reset will have to be done to avert the danger of total collapse. Just like what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. The earth did not end with the destruction of the people who lived there, but some chosen few were called to continue and spread over the earth (Lot + Rest of his family - His wife x The 2 angels).

I think a similar thing will happen on that date. The wicked and evil will be purged out of the land and those who are not necessarily wicked but are comfortable with the state of things and want to remain as they are, will suffer the same fate as Lot's wife (I do not know if they will turn to salt, but I bet if they did, some sharp men will start to sell the salt in the market as table salt, Maybe they will turn to pepper? Why Lot's wife had to turn to salt of all minerals I do not know! These are some things I would love to have asked my pastors to explain, but they are too busy slapping folks and swearing for folks or just graciously begging us to give them money and jeep and jet and fuel for their vehicles while we pay public transport and suffer and smile!  

Abeg, let that day come. I dey wait am in anticipation. i have nothing to hide, nothing to loose. Lord come and do with me as you please on that day! My conscience is my shield!

what is the argument here. are we talking about some form of natural disaster for this year, or are we talking about 666 bullshit? first of all nastro was neva specific about the end of the world, secondly, the legitimacy of his prophecy were questionable. thirdly jst wiki most of these doomsday prophets will see they base most of their on ancient scripts.scientifically,apart from a massive volcano or the human activities, there is no immediate to the entire human race. as massive asteroid, meteorite, or the sun consuming the earth,or earth being swallow by a black hole, all that are millions or billions of years in the future

Guy! plans have changed!

If I hear that Atlantic Ocean has dried or I realise that the sun has stopped radiating energy, then I'll believe the prediction of the world coming to an end.
But if you talk about new world order, I'll share your sentiment to some extent. Before, it was different system of govt, now all countries are being "dictated to" to adopt democracy. Failure to do so, expect sanctions and war, even if people do not want it. They said we have different economic systems before, now every nation must adopt capitalism by fire by force. So, what happened to diff types of economic sys? Man should be allowed to be intimate with another man, the same goes for women. Now every nation must adopt it, and failure to so, foreign aid to stubborn nations will stop. What I realised is that some powerful nations are forcing their ideology down the throats of other nations. The same goes for IMF and World Bank anti masses policies.

If I hear that Atlantic Ocean has dried or I realise that the sun has stopped radiating energy, then I'll believe the prediction of the world coming to an end.
But if you talk about new world order, I'll share your sentiment to some extent. Before, it was different system of govt, now all countries are being "dictated to" to adopt democracy. Failure to do so, expect sanctions and war, even if people do not want it. They said we have different economic systems before, now every nation must adopt capitalism by fire by force. So, what happened to diff types of economic sys? Man should be allowed to be intimate with another man, the same goes for women. Now every nation must adopt it, and failure to so, foreign aid to stubborn nations will stop. What I realised is that some powerful nations are forcing their ideology down the throats of other nations. The same goes for IMF and World Bank anti masses policies.

people are afraid that America is try to form a new world, but i think America is jst trying to save their own ass by creating a system that will ensure that they remain world power. as you all know democratic govt is more cooperative then any other form of govt.

Pls read wider. The world is not ending, it's resetting. Disasters will surely happen but things will go back to being afresh. But d best explanation being that d maya calender only ends there, not that that's when d world will end.
And all those shitz are if i even biliv in d crap!

who is Nostradamus;has any of his predictionss ever come to pass?An anti-christ of the 21st century! سككسته سمىسف:

The world won't end, and all the Mayan people will have to buy new callenders

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the 21-12 isn't a mayan prophecy?


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The world is not coming to an end yet jor I beg you people stop it. I need to have three kids, I haven't even born one yet.

Death is inevitable for the living-Life is inevitable for the dead.

I am the son of a barren woman, Am I really here?,
Riddle me this.