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We don't. At the end of the last ice age there was a strange period we call the Younger Dryas, during which we had a major extinction event and drastic temperat

We don't. At the end of the last ice age there was a strange period we call the Younger Dryas, during which we had a major extinction event and drastic temperature swings. There are several theories about the cause, including a massive solar event. I did a quick search and found the article below about it: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Did_A_Massive_Solar_Proton_Event_Fry_The_Earth_999.html http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Did_A_Massive_Solar_Proton...

valuearb 9y ago
I’m assuming next time we can just stay indoors for two days?
- chiph 9y ago
  You know that crazy prepper neighbor who spent last fall putting a shelter in his backyard? Yeah, he'll be fine. For the old folks like me - there's roughly a 1:100 conversion between sieverts and rem. So an anticipated 3-6 sieverts over 2 days is 300-600 rem, which is fatal to nearly everyone.
  - valuearb 9y ago
    What if I have a metal roof?
  - Tuna-Fish 9y ago
    But the radiation mostly comes in form of electrons, protons or nucleii of heavier elements, not neutrons or gamma/xray. A really thin sheet of metal would reliably stop that. I think the effect of the direct radiation would indeed be blocked by the typical roof and walls. The part where the prepper has an advantage is dealing with the indirect effects -- such bombardment would (temporarily) collapse the geomagnetic field and fill the uppermost reaches of atmosphere with dust. That would cause massive effects on the climate.
    - valuearb 9y ago
      Famine would be the other problem the prepped would have an advantage in. One would expect the deaths of many farm animals, and it would take a few years to recover production.
      - anoncoward111 9y ago
        In my opinion, it would be difficult for the US to enter a widespread (5% population starve to death) famine. The amount of dried, preserved, high calorie, long shelf life food that we have staggering. Crackers, soups, noodles, pasta, dehydrated soy/meat etc. The only two reasons someone could starve to death is if companies deliberately hid supply of food for fun, or if they refused to eat those types of food for about 60 days, upon which most people die from acute starvation. Malnutrition is more complex but vitamins exist.
      - Tuna-Fish 9y ago
        Death of farm animals would mean that the total available food supply goes up, not down. Depending on exactly how you count, it takes between 2 and 20 pounds of corn to produce one pound of beef. In terms of total global food production, meat production is a net drain, that basically consumes food to produce a luxury.

valuearb 9y ago

I’m assuming next time we can just stay indoors for two days?

chiph 9y ago
You know that crazy prepper neighbor who spent last fall putting a shelter in his backyard? Yeah, he'll be fine. For the old folks like me - there's roughly a 1:100 conversion between sieverts and rem. So an anticipated 3-6 sieverts over 2 days is 300-600 rem, which is fatal to nearly everyone.
- valuearb 9y ago
  What if I have a metal roof?
- Tuna-Fish 9y ago
  But the radiation mostly comes in form of electrons, protons or nucleii of heavier elements, not neutrons or gamma/xray. A really thin sheet of metal would reliably stop that. I think the effect of the direct radiation would indeed be blocked by the typical roof and walls. The part where the prepper has an advantage is dealing with the indirect effects -- such bombardment would (temporarily) collapse the geomagnetic field and fill the uppermost reaches of atmosphere with dust. That would cause massive effects on the climate.
  - valuearb 9y ago
    Famine would be the other problem the prepped would have an advantage in. One would expect the deaths of many farm animals, and it would take a few years to recover production.
    - anoncoward111 9y ago
      In my opinion, it would be difficult for the US to enter a widespread (5% population starve to death) famine. The amount of dried, preserved, high calorie, long shelf life food that we have staggering. Crackers, soups, noodles, pasta, dehydrated soy/meat etc. The only two reasons someone could starve to death is if companies deliberately hid supply of food for fun, or if they refused to eat those types of food for about 60 days, upon which most people die from acute starvation. Malnutrition is more complex but vitamins exist.
    - Tuna-Fish 9y ago
      Death of farm animals would mean that the total available food supply goes up, not down. Depending on exactly how you count, it takes between 2 and 20 pounds of corn to produce one pound of beef. In terms of total global food production, meat production is a net drain, that basically consumes food to produce a luxury.