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Good question. I believe the ECUs and other electronics inside cars won't be affected - cars are made of metal, acting as a cage for the internals themselves, w

Good question. I believe the ECUs and other electronics inside cars won't be affected - cars are made of metal, acting as a cage for the internals themselves, while the ECUs have their own EM protective cage. Reading the article, it seems to me that only the satellites in orbit (and the ISS, unfortunately) will be severely damaged, while on the surface, we'll have to shut down our electronics and power stations (not an easy thing to do) to prevent damage... Hopefully, if we are to have such a storm, it will come within the next two decades and be relatively mild, so we can learn how to protect ourselves from them in the future (and see just what kind of damage it can do)...

kamaal 14y ago
Yes, but you need fuel to run cars. And much of fuel extraction and refinements happens through machines that depend on electronic control systems. Nobody builds fuel extraction plants preparing for massive solar flares. While electronics in your car might be safe. You might not have fuel to use it.
- jakeonthemove 14y ago
  I wouldn't worry about the extraction platforms. Refineries, maybe, but they're all equipped with on-site backups and the technology is pretty much mechanical, except for some electronic components that are non-essential. Diesel engines and most electronics on ships will also be unaffected, since the ships are grounded by water and those engines are pretty much mechanical monsters - the supply of fuel will most likely go uninterrupted (heck, I'd worry more about governments and criminals using the opportunity to start something)...
  - kamaal 14y ago
    There is nothing that exists in Isolation today. Everything thing depends on each other. That's the most beautiful and the scariest part. When these sort of scenarios are discussed, we take into account only the first impacted entity. We don't analyze the things that get impacted because of the first entity and things that depend on each other. There are going to chained failures of systems. Each depending on other to recover. While none can at the moment. When you see the whole equation in the entirety you will realize a single massive failure in one entity can send you back centuries.
  - nitrogen 14y ago
    Refineries, maybe, but they're all equipped with on-site backups and the technology is pretty much mechanical, except for some electronic components that are non-essential. Most of a modern refinery is controlled by PLCs and computers.

kamaal 14y ago

Yes, but you need fuel to run cars. And much of fuel extraction and refinements happens through machines that depend on electronic control systems. Nobody builds fuel extraction plants preparing for massive solar flares. While electronics in your car might be safe. You might not have fuel to use it.

jakeonthemove 14y ago
I wouldn't worry about the extraction platforms. Refineries, maybe, but they're all equipped with on-site backups and the technology is pretty much mechanical, except for some electronic components that are non-essential. Diesel engines and most electronics on ships will also be unaffected, since the ships are grounded by water and those engines are pretty much mechanical monsters - the supply of fuel will most likely go uninterrupted (heck, I'd worry more about governments and criminals using the opportunity to start something)...
- kamaal 14y ago
  There is nothing that exists in Isolation today. Everything thing depends on each other. That's the most beautiful and the scariest part. When these sort of scenarios are discussed, we take into account only the first impacted entity. We don't analyze the things that get impacted because of the first entity and things that depend on each other. There are going to chained failures of systems. Each depending on other to recover. While none can at the moment. When you see the whole equation in the entirety you will realize a single massive failure in one entity can send you back centuries.
- nitrogen 14y ago
  Refineries, maybe, but they're all equipped with on-site backups and the technology is pretty much mechanical, except for some electronic components that are non-essential. Most of a modern refinery is controlled by PLCs and computers.