By Michael Kuhne, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer
November 16, 2015; 5:10 AM ET
In the late summer of 1859, an extreme geomagnetic storm bombarded the planet, igniting the ghostly, emerald lights of the aurora across skies as far south as Cuba.
These powerful solar eruptions of magnetized plasma hitting the Earth caused telegraph wires to spark, disabled communications and set fire to several telegraph offices, according to NASA.
In the modern world, the threat of space weather is far greater as storms like the Carrington Event of 1859 pose a risk to interconnected power grids, airline operations, satellites and communications networks across the globe.
"In some worst case scenarios, the damage could be extensive and take weeks to months to fully recover from," Berger said.
The primary agencies involved in the response, mitigation and forecasting elements of the new plan include the Department of Homeland Security (FEMA) and the Department of Commerce housing NOAA and the National Weather Service.
In the case of long-term power outages, FEMA would respond to affected areas like they would for any other power outage, but the impact could still be devastating, he said.
"One of the most pessimistic views and estimates was produced by the National Academy of Sciences in 2008," Berger said. "It has numbers in the $1- to 2-trillion range with full recovery taking 4-10 years."
The cost would be nearly 20 times that of the damages inflicted by Hurricane Katrina.
When a geomagnetic storm interacts with the Earth's magnetic field, it drastically changes the planet's magnetosphere, and in turn generates powerful electric currents in the ionosphere that are thousands and thousands of amps, Berger said.These geomagnetic-induced currents are mirrored in the ground, where critical electrical infrastructure is grounded. The magnitude of these storms are rated on a scale similar to tornadoes and hurricanes at G-1 through G-5, with the latter being the highest magnitude.
"One of the difficulties we face is that we have only about 150 years of records of solar storms and only a few decades of modern space-based measurements of solar storms," he said.
"We really can't say that we know for sure the maximum magnitude the sun is capable of producing in terms of extreme eruptions. But if we take the Carrington event as the prototypical event, then it could potentially damage the Extra-High-Voltage (EHV) power distribution system in the U.S."
Part of the U.S. mitigation efforts being coordinated under the new national strategy is to install equipment that would block the damaging DC currents from getting into the system, he added.
"The best-case scenario, that we are trying to work towards, is that there is no damage to the grid," he said.
With winter on the way, power outages, especially in situations of extreme heat and cold, can also lead to greater problems. Preparedness can provide safety and security in the time before agencies like FEMA mobilize their relief efforts in an emergency situation.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/looming-threat-solar-geomagnetic-storms-power-grid-communications-satellite-white-house-obama-plan/53523885#
November 16, 2015; 5:10 AM ET
In the late summer of 1859, an extreme geomagnetic storm bombarded the planet, igniting the ghostly, emerald lights of the aurora across skies as far south as Cuba.
These powerful solar eruptions of magnetized plasma hitting the Earth caused telegraph wires to spark, disabled communications and set fire to several telegraph offices, according to NASA.
In the modern world, the threat of space weather is far greater as storms like the Carrington Event of 1859 pose a risk to interconnected power grids, airline operations, satellites and communications networks across the globe.
"In some worst case scenarios, the damage could be extensive and take weeks to months to fully recover from," Berger said.
The primary agencies involved in the response, mitigation and forecasting elements of the new plan include the Department of Homeland Security (FEMA) and the Department of Commerce housing NOAA and the National Weather Service.
In the case of long-term power outages, FEMA would respond to affected areas like they would for any other power outage, but the impact could still be devastating, he said.
"One of the most pessimistic views and estimates was produced by the National Academy of Sciences in 2008," Berger said. "It has numbers in the $1- to 2-trillion range with full recovery taking 4-10 years."
The cost would be nearly 20 times that of the damages inflicted by Hurricane Katrina.
When a geomagnetic storm interacts with the Earth's magnetic field, it drastically changes the planet's magnetosphere, and in turn generates powerful electric currents in the ionosphere that are thousands and thousands of amps, Berger said.These geomagnetic-induced currents are mirrored in the ground, where critical electrical infrastructure is grounded. The magnitude of these storms are rated on a scale similar to tornadoes and hurricanes at G-1 through G-5, with the latter being the highest magnitude.
"One of the difficulties we face is that we have only about 150 years of records of solar storms and only a few decades of modern space-based measurements of solar storms," he said.
"We really can't say that we know for sure the maximum magnitude the sun is capable of producing in terms of extreme eruptions. But if we take the Carrington event as the prototypical event, then it could potentially damage the Extra-High-Voltage (EHV) power distribution system in the U.S."
Part of the U.S. mitigation efforts being coordinated under the new national strategy is to install equipment that would block the damaging DC currents from getting into the system, he added.
"The best-case scenario, that we are trying to work towards, is that there is no damage to the grid," he said.
With winter on the way, power outages, especially in situations of extreme heat and cold, can also lead to greater problems. Preparedness can provide safety and security in the time before agencies like FEMA mobilize their relief efforts in an emergency situation.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/looming-threat-solar-geomagnetic-storms-power-grid-communications-satellite-white-house-obama-plan/53523885#
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