Large solar flare missed us in 2012

Wile E

Well-known Member
I just read a blurb on Yahoo news that in July of 2012 we missed a large solar flare that could have knocked us back to the 1700s. (I cannot fathom not living without electricity) I can do without the TV, and even the internet, (no YTmag....) But to not run a freezer or refrigerator cause electricity is out for months. That is a tough nut to swallow there.

I wonder if cars/trucks would be able to run due to electronics not functioning. The old tractors should work, but any solid state device would likely be burned up.
 
(quoted from post at 13:16:02 07/25/14) I just read a blurb on Yahoo news that in July of 2012 we missed a large solar flare that could have knocked us back to the 1700s. (I cannot fathom not living without electricity) I can do without the TV, and even the internet, (no YTmag....) But to not run a freezer or refrigerator cause electricity is out for months. That is a tough nut to swallow there.

I wonder if cars/trucks would be able to run due to electronics not functioning. The old tractors should work, but any solid state device would likely be burned up.

It's not a matter of if, it's when.
Other than point ignition gassers and diesels equipped with generators instead of alternators. There ain't much electrical that will work. Unless it was stored inside a shed with a steel roof, walls and doors.
Whacked hard in 1859 and lesser in 1972, 1989.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/06may_carringtonflare/
 
Where are you going to find gas or diesel to run the old stuff anyway?No power to run the pumps,and most of all refineries wil be down anyway.Ron
 
The long transmission lines are the issue, they act like antenna's. You should be fine with local electronics.
 
In a calamity like that, most folks nowadays would just give up and set there until they perish. Some of us oldsters that went through tough times would be more resourceful to find ways to get what we need - although there would be a lot os people waiting to take it away from us if they could.
 
I watch the movie "Day After Tomorrow" or "The Dome" and similar and think things wouldn't be that calm. While us country/farm folk could get along. The city folk and country citiots would over run us and kill us of just to get their share trying to survive. The panic would be massive and over whelm everything.
 
Those stories get posted every so often to stir up traffic on the web sites. Something *could* happen, nothing *did* happen. Nobody really knows what the impact will really be, but suggesting that everything electric is toast seems like an exaggeration to me.
 
Many folks don't realize that one of the things that happen if you detonate a Thermonuclear device is a large electro magnetic pulse (EMP). When I was in the Air Force that was one of the things we had to plan for. All of the combat aircraft were "hardened" to prevent disruption by an EMP during a nuclear exchange. Day in and day out we had to be careful when working on the aircraft and insure we didn't disrupt any of the grounding or shielding built into the aircraft that protected it from bad EMRS. I also know that the Auto manufacturers build some EMP/EMF resistance into their cars both to prevent the car from messing other things up and to prevent the car from quitting when it is exposed to EMP/EMF found in normal but extreme conditions. They'll test cats by running them along or in high voltage power line right of ways, alongside or around Radio towers and they used to run them along the ELF line in Upper Michigan until they shut that down. All to insure that your car doesn't quit at inopportune times.
 
Solar flare or nuke EMP will fry unprotected solid state electronics. Old electro mechanical equipment is expected to have minimal problems- points and condenser systems may have to get a new condenser but if not will run a short time with rapid point wear. The Amish farmer will be the new elite class- they"ll be able to ask for silver or gold for food or stage coach rides. Teasing Alert!. Early solar flare disrupted some communications but most people worked around it, another bad flare that hits will likely shut down a lot of internet lines and servers, lots of gamers will panic and cry, lots of business will be slowed or shutdown until 3 days after flare-- but lots of critical systems are caged and using fiberoptics so most important military and government communications will be slow but not stopped. Troubles will come in most cities in US because no TV means lots of people can"t keep up with the Kardashians, can"t get on Facebook, and can"t get in newer cars and drive away to government office. Lots of the criminal element will try "Purge" riots and expect a lot of Liebural nnalert cities to go up in smoke- some will be stoners puffing on the street to stay calm and police won"t bother them, they"ll be watching the politicians and their own families, some grocery stores. Possible concern is medicine needed by some people might be shortages in a week or so. Methadone clinics are using computer systems to keep track of daily doses given- if network goes down they can"t track and can"t get resupply in couple days as usual-- so a bunch of desperate junkies will be hunting politicians for their supply- Mayor of Toronto rumored to have a stash will be in trouble. More Teasing Alert! Old Oliver diesel with air starter, mechanical injector pumps developed for the moist tropics will still start and run on various fuels, Listor diesels and the Indian made copies will also run, some of the Russian old electrics with tubes will work. Lots of down refrigerators possible from electric grid failures- but that means lots of barbecue meat and sides available for a week as long as the charcoal supply holds out. 2 week flare will have riots at 10 days in some cities- New York City and Boston, Los Angeles likely, Detroit and Chicago less so according to a FEMA study- reasons not clear but notes that Detroit is already operating as Third World disaster area and Chicago has close enough farm crops stored to last the week and enough mobile criminal element-.
 
The electrical charge from solar flares is created by conductors crossing the lines of magnetic flux, much like a generator does.

It will NOT destroy small devices.
 
Reminds me of the "Y 2K" artificial panic we all survived.

What happens when we have a storm and the power lines are down? The utility providers scramble crews to work day and night to get it back up.

Why? Because they are wonderful, respectful, neighbor loving people wanting to do the right thing? Maybe, but most likely, they want to get those meters spinning again!

So, if something were to happen to their computer system... Would they throw up their hands, "that's it, shut 'er down"...

Not hardly, scramble the computer geeks! Override the safety switch! Get 'er done!

Cars are a stand alone system. I just don't see them being effected.
 

Western modern civilization in the US, Canada and developed western Europe would have an over 90% death rate within a year. If an other 1859 event occurred.
Of course most of Central and south America, Africa , the middle east and rural areas of the far east would survive.
There would be enough unused fuel for the few surviving North Americans to operate the few remaining functional engines for years.
 
The power grid would probably be rebuilt as quickly as parts are available.

Microsoft on the other hand, would probably discontinue support for all their existing products and insist on only selling their newest replacement. ;)
 
2444, I have to agree with you. The lack of cell/net/dumb phone access would surely claim more victims than lack of food!
 
It's not a matter of "if" but rather "when" a major solar flare hits the earth. It's a bit speculative to say what will happen, but we can take a look back to the blackout that hit the northeast US and Ontario in 2003. Yes, it was a major PITA and was a serious blow to the economy. But the regions hit did not descend into anarchy. Now, extend that sort of outage to the entire planet and knock out radio communications and you have a much more dire situation. But I have a hard time believing it's going to bring about the collapse of civilization.
 
(quoted from post at 07:02:28 07/26/14) It's not a matter of "if" but rather "when" a major solar flare hits the earth. It's a bit speculative to say what will happen, but we can take a look back to the blackout that hit the northeast US and Ontario in 2003. Yes, it was a major PITA and was a serious blow to the economy. But the regions hit did not descend into anarchy. Now, extend that sort of outage to the entire planet and knock out radio communications and you have a much more dire situation. But I have a hard time believing it's going to bring about the collapse of civilization.

The 2003 blackout lasted about 6-7 hours for most people and not more than 2 days for almost all customers. IF an EMP type situation occurred where it was weeks to months before mainline power, water, sewage was restored, you'd see an entirely different result. I've seen just how much veneer our "civilized" society really has. It's a very thin veneer indeed!
 
The birth rates also go up 9 months after large blackouts, so some of the people must have found something better to do.
 
My community does not use water towers. Without electricity to pump water and run the sewage plant we are in dire straits immediately. The 2 cases of btl water in the garage (hurricane supplies) is all I keep on hand.
 
(quoted from post at 16:45:17 07/26/14)
(quoted from post at 23:46:26 07/25/14) The power grid would probably be rebuilt as quickly as parts are available. . ;)

How long does it take to re-wind 500KV main distribution transformers ?

Yeah, there are limited numbers of "parts" available out there. After our Ice Storm of 98 we were getting power poles from the west coast or anywhere we could find them. There just weren't any to be had. That's just power poles in a relatively small area. Wipe out the entire grid and see what happens.
 

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