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I honestly think it’s crazy that we don’t give this more attention as a society. Like, there is serious talk that we need to look out for Asteroids. But nothing

I honestly think it’s crazy that we don’t give this more attention as a society. Like, there is serious talk that we need to look out for Asteroids. But nothing about hardening ourselves against the next high output solar event, which seems more likely to be a problem.

eli 7y ago
My understanding is that the only early warning system we have relies on old and failing satellites and provides only minutes of warning.
- chrisco255 7y ago
  "In August 2018, NASA's Parker Solar Probe launched to space, soon becoming the closest-ever spacecraft to the Sun. With cutting-edge scientific instruments to measure the environment around the spacecraft, Parker Solar Probe has completed three of 24 planned passes through never-before-explored parts of the Sun's atmosphere, the corona." https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasas-parker-solar-probe-sheds-new-light-on-the-sun/ https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasas-parker-solar...
  - eli 7y ago
    Oh neat. I was at a lecture about space weather some years ago and several scientists were lamenting the delays in that project. Glad it got sorted!
- daxorid 7y ago
  Light travels faster than plasma, so we have on the order of 12-18 hours notice of a CME targeted at us.
  - dredmorbius 7y ago
    Warning of a possible CME-induced electrical storm. The visible signature alone isn't proof. The actual EMF effects, based on both the nature and targeting of the CME, aren't clear until it encounters some electrically-aware monitoring device. Of which most are in Earth orbit. If countermeasures include such activities as widespread disabling / disconnecting of major grid elements and equipment, you'll want to minimise the false alarms, both on the basis of cost and because of the boy-who-cried-wolf factor.
ouid 7y ago
Events that kill some people and events that kill all people have different priority.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
vkou 7y ago
That's because blowing up asteroids is sexy, but hardening the grid is work. You can't make a movie out of the latter, so nobody cares. See, also, why people love sexy non-solutions to problems we don't have (let's colonize Mars), but turn their noses at solving real problems, which affect billions of people (climate change). You can't make a slick film about a superhero convincing people to cutting back on their energy use, and to carpool, or bus to work. It's not sexy.

eli 7y ago

My understanding is that the only early warning system we have relies on old and failing satellites and provides only minutes of warning.

chrisco255 7y ago
"In August 2018, NASA's Parker Solar Probe launched to space, soon becoming the closest-ever spacecraft to the Sun. With cutting-edge scientific instruments to measure the environment around the spacecraft, Parker Solar Probe has completed three of 24 planned passes through never-before-explored parts of the Sun's atmosphere, the corona." https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasas-parker-solar-probe-sheds-new-light-on-the-sun/ https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasas-parker-solar...
- eli 7y ago
  Oh neat. I was at a lecture about space weather some years ago and several scientists were lamenting the delays in that project. Glad it got sorted!
daxorid 7y ago
Light travels faster than plasma, so we have on the order of 12-18 hours notice of a CME targeted at us.
- dredmorbius 7y ago
  Warning of a possible CME-induced electrical storm. The visible signature alone isn't proof. The actual EMF effects, based on both the nature and targeting of the CME, aren't clear until it encounters some electrically-aware monitoring device. Of which most are in Earth orbit. If countermeasures include such activities as widespread disabling / disconnecting of major grid elements and equipment, you'll want to minimise the false alarms, both on the basis of cost and because of the boy-who-cried-wolf factor.

ouid 7y ago

Events that kill some people and events that kill all people have different priority.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

vkou 7y ago

That's because blowing up asteroids is sexy, but hardening the grid is work. You can't make a movie out of the latter, so nobody cares. See, also, why people love sexy non-solutions to problems we don't have (let's colonize Mars), but turn their noses at solving real problems, which affect billions of people (climate change). You can't make a slick film about a superhero convincing people to cutting back on their energy use, and to carpool, or bus to work. It's not sexy.