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So going off of the previous HN thread, I thought we were due for a Carrington event a month ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40321821 https://news.yco

So going off of the previous HN thread, I thought we were due for a Carrington event a month ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40321821 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40321821). Will this next bout of astronomical magnetic phenomena pose a threat to technological civilization as we know it?

ben_w 2y ago
Perhaps. The Carrington event was 2-4 times as strong as the one last month, but on the other hand it also looks like most of the electrical systems are a lot more resilient than they used to be.
- anileated 2y ago
  I am curious about how would the general public be made aware of another Carrington-class storm. NOAA rated May 2024 storm as G5, which is the highest rating for a geomagnetic storm regarding its effect on the public.
  - Apocryphon 2y ago
    Just need Bruckheimer + Bay and/or Emmerich to make a couple of disaster movies about the concept to incept it into the public's mind. Hopefully that will then provide NOAA the popular support to do what they need to do.
- bityard 2y ago
  When we had the CME headed towards Earth recently, I was pretty amazed at the sheer number of highly-upvoted HN comments whose authors seemed to believe that the power grid, copper phone lines, and communications satellites were all about to be wiped out. Fortunately, most engineers in all of the fields above are well aware of the Carrington Event. And while it's not beyond possibility that there might be some corner cases if (when?) another one happens, we know how to design these systems to keep another one from causing any major outages or damage.
  - ben_w 2y ago
    In fairness, quite a lot of governments are visibly very bad at getting quality infrastructure built, themselves or privately, especially infrastructure that only matters after they left office. The visibility may be unrepresentative, newspapers always amplify what's bad rather than what's good.

ben_w 2y ago

Perhaps. The Carrington event was 2-4 times as strong as the one last month, but on the other hand it also looks like most of the electrical systems are a lot more resilient than they used to be.

anileated 2y ago
I am curious about how would the general public be made aware of another Carrington-class storm. NOAA rated May 2024 storm as G5, which is the highest rating for a geomagnetic storm regarding its effect on the public.
- Apocryphon 2y ago
  Just need Bruckheimer + Bay and/or Emmerich to make a couple of disaster movies about the concept to incept it into the public's mind. Hopefully that will then provide NOAA the popular support to do what they need to do.
bityard 2y ago
When we had the CME headed towards Earth recently, I was pretty amazed at the sheer number of highly-upvoted HN comments whose authors seemed to believe that the power grid, copper phone lines, and communications satellites were all about to be wiped out. Fortunately, most engineers in all of the fields above are well aware of the Carrington Event. And while it's not beyond possibility that there might be some corner cases if (when?) another one happens, we know how to design these systems to keep another one from causing any major outages or damage.
- ben_w 2y ago
  In fairness, quite a lot of governments are visibly very bad at getting quality infrastructure built, themselves or privately, especially infrastructure that only matters after they left office. The visibility may be unrepresentative, newspapers always amplify what's bad rather than what's good.