# How much time do you think we have left?



## d_saum (Jan 17, 2012)

Before the sun blows chunks on us?

I really am amazed at how often the sun pops off a solar flare. I signed up with redalerts dot com and get emails a LOT more often then I thought I would. Fortunately.. most of them are completely benign, but as that article states (and most of us here already know..) the sun is becoming more active. So how much time do you think we have left before the sun lets one rip right in our face? (Sorry ladies.. but fart jokes are still funny!  )

I guess I need to hurry up and order those extra parts for my jeep to protect against EMP!!!!


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Agreed. I have an old carburaeted ford truck I gotta pick up from my uncles house and get running a little better! The sun is pickin up steam and it is supposed to get bad in the next 12 months.


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## bahramthered (Mar 10, 2012)

Well the sun is going to consume the earth in about 3 billion years. I figure we got least 2 billion of the earth being inhabitable (unless we screw it up).

Logic says we're going to have a few nasty solar flares hit us over the millieum but it's a big solar system and the earth is a small target (comparatively). I can only say no solar event has ever caused a mass extinction event on this planet and we're still here with it burning the whole time. Safe to say the sun isn't much of a threat. Unless you count skin cancer and the depleted ozone.


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## d_saum (Jan 17, 2012)

bahramthered said:


> Well the sun is going to consume the earth in about 3 billion years. I figure we got least 2 billion of the earth being inhabitable (unless we screw it up).
> 
> Logic says we're going to have a few nasty solar flares hit us over the millieum but it's a big solar system and the earth is a small target (comparatively).* I can only say no solar event has ever caused a mass extinction event on this planet and we're still here with it burning the whole time. Safe to say the sun isn't much of a threat.* Unless you count skin cancer and the depleted ozone.


Ever hear of the carrington event? If that happened today, it'd be the same, if not worse than an EMP attack via nukes. And while we may be a "small target" in the grand scheme of things, we are not out of the line of fire for our sun. It's happened before, and it'll happen again. Just a matter of time.


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## bahramthered (Mar 10, 2012)

d_saum said:


> Ever hear of the carrington event? If that happened today, it'd be the same, if not worse than an EMP attack via nukes. And while we may be a "small target" in the grand scheme of things, we are not out of the line of fire for our sun. It's happened before, and it'll happen again. Just a matter of time.


Yeah but we're still alive and not "out of time". I think I mentioned solar flares having an effect on us?


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## pixieduster (Mar 28, 2012)

mojo4 said:


> Agreed. I have an old carburaeted ford truck I gotta pick up from my uncles house and get running a little better!.


Awsome! Just got an 88 GMC short bed, 305 carb, looks real funky but runs like a kitten. I'm one that doesn't give a sh!t what the neighbors think. All their new shiney SUV's. Sold the shiney SUV to one of them and drove up in the GMC with a bed full of extra tires and rims. Ha!


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

There's no way to know. We don't know how common massive solar flares are, how often they're emitted, and how often they miss they earth. As far as I know the sun can shoot out a solar flare in any direction. There was a massive one that hit the earth in 1859 that made some telegraphs catch on fire. I think a massive solar flare will wipe out our electrical grid someday. But that could be a hundred years from now.


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## d_saum (Jan 17, 2012)

bahramthered said:


> Yeah but we're still alive and not "out of time". I think I mentioned solar flares having an effect on us?


We are still alive because we didn't rely on microchips back then like we do now for just about every thing we do. We are still alive because there was a negligible effect on day to day goings on back then. Telegraph lines burnt up.. Oh no!!! Some even caught on fire. If that same event happened today... a LOT of folks would die from the results. Could you call that a mass extinction? Maybe... maybe not. But at the very least, your "Safe to say the sun isn't very much of a threat" is just plain wrong.


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## d_saum (Jan 17, 2012)

BillS said:


> There's no way to know. We don't know how common massive solar flares are, how often they're emitted, and how often they miss they earth. As far as I know the sun can shoot out a solar flare in any direction. There was a massive one that hit the earth in 1859 that made some telegraphs catch on fire.


Actually Bill.. we do know how common they are. Quite common in fact. Just go to redalertes dot com and see how often they happen. I subscribed (for free) and was immediately amazed at how often they occur.



BillS said:


> I think a massive solar flare will wipe out our electrical grid someday. But that could be a hundred years from now.


Yeah.. and it could also happen tomorrow.


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## d_saum (Jan 17, 2012)

pixieduster said:


> Awsome! Just got an 88 GMC short bed, 305 carb, looks real funky but runs like a kitten. I'm one that doesn't give a sh!t what the neighbors think. All their new shiney SUV's. Sold the shiney SUV to one of them and drove up in the GMC with a bed full of extra tires and rims. Ha!


Haha... NICE! I'm with you.. have you seen my Bug Out Wagoneer?  I also have a thread on how to protect it from an EMP (well.. not protect it.. just what parts I need to keep on hand to replace), and the same parts probably apply to your GMC. Any pics? :beercheer:


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## DKRinAK (Nov 21, 2011)

*it could happen*

A Carrington event _could_ happen tomorrow.

I could also get hit by a drunk driver.

Statistically, it's far more likely that I would be hit by a drunk, have an airplane hit the house (3 have landed in the neighborhood in the last 10 years) or some other - far more common disaster strike.

The telegraph lines back then were miles long and completely unprotected. Today, long haul comm is via fiber optic cables and the power grid (at least hereabouts) is very well protected from eddy currents (induced voltage)

_Could_ it happen - ya. But there so many other things, things worth worrying about (house fire, loss of employment, etc) that _this_ falls somewhere between meteor strike and a 10.0 earthquake.... Meh.


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## d_saum (Jan 17, 2012)

DKRinAK said:


> A Carrington event _could_ happen tomorrow.
> 
> I could also get hit by a drunk driver.
> 
> ...


*** long sigh ... along with a hefty face-palm ***

If you get hit by a drunk driver, the country is not thrown into chaos with millions dying... although, someone of your standing would be a serious downer to the country.  Seriously though..You say it's not worth worrying about.. well gosh. Thanks for setting me straight. I'm glad we are all on this board for things like drunk drivers, house fires, and loss of employment. 

Facts are facts.. and the fact is that the sun is becoming more active with it peaking sometime in 2013. The other fact is that it doesn't take much for a rogue nation or terrorist group to build an EMP device ... so.. if I prepare for both, I'm covered. To be honest though, I'm more worried about a solar flare because it _*could*_ happen tomorrow.


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## pixieduster (Mar 28, 2012)

d_saum said:


> Haha... NICE! I'm with you.. have you seen my Bug Out Wagoneer?  I also have a thread on how to protect it from an EMP (well.. not protect it.. just what parts I need to keep on hand to replace), and the same parts probably apply to your GMC. Any pics? :beercheer:


Yep. Very cool. Will work on getting pics. Fixing the headlights so I won't get pulled over. Hehe


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## bahramthered (Mar 10, 2012)

d_saum: The Carrington event played havoc with primitive electrical wires strung from place to place. 

It would basically be a very low end EMP attack across a very broad area. Many experts think that EMP can only be a threat very close to the target. If nulear testing has really confirmed that, it'd be a lot of static and annoyances but not much more than a hic up. In modern communications so much is now carried by buried cables. Assuming it even hit our side of the world. 

Also on a 500 year average you should put this warring in your will for your great grand kids to prep their kids.


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Well dsaum, I agree with you. At least after an EMP or solar flare my computer will be out so I won't hear about people saying there's nothing to worry about!! Buy an old beater now cause after an EMP there is one rule of the road... A$$ gas or grass.....nobody rides for free!! And only fatire has weed so everyone else is screwed!!


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## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

pixieduster said:


> Awsome! Just got an 88 GMC short bed, 305 carb, looks real funky but runs like a kitten. I'm one that doesn't give a sh!t what the neighbors think. All their new shiney SUV's. Sold the shiney SUV to one of them and drove up in the GMC with a bed full of extra tires and rims. Ha!


someone must have worked on it because 88s were fuel injected with eletronic ignition


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

d_saum said:


> Actually Bill.. we do know how common they are. Quite common in fact. Just go to redalertes dot com and see how often they happen. I subscribed (for free) and was immediately amazed at how often they occur.
> 
> Yeah.. and it could also happen tomorrow.


Actually, the Carrington event was the biggest solar flare in the last 500 years. So no, it's extremely unlikely that we'd have a similar event tomorrow.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/06may_carringtonflare/

"In the 160-year record of geomagnetic storms, the Carrington event is the biggest." It's possible to delve back even farther in time by examining arctic ice. "Energetic particles leave a record in nitrates in ice cores," he explains. "Here again the Carrington event sticks out as the biggest in 500 years and nearly twice as big as the runner-up."
These statistics suggest that Carrington flares are once in a half-millennium events.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

Heard on Coast to Coast last night that a major CME attack is tonight (7/14/2012) and the astronomers just picked up a major meteor that will hit the sun this weekend.


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## Alaskaman (Apr 6, 2012)

Yeah, I guess as long as the fiber optics are buried... Duh!! How do you power all these comms when the power lines fry?
I dont mean to be a downer, but complete identifying the problem before applying the simple solution


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## ContinualHarvest (Feb 19, 2012)

I'm not worried about EMP or solar events. I'm more worried about far right mega corporate takeover. Look at big media. Controlled by only 6 major corporations. Look at banking. Big banks consuming other banks like crazy the past few years. The rights of everyday people eroded to give corporations more power over the people that work for them and the people that purchase things from them.
As I see it now, the regulating agencies are being staffed by the corporate cronies. FDA staffed by a Monsanto Exec, Comcast NBC buying an FCC chairman. 
That's what we need to worry about. The takeover has been going on since the 70's. We need to vote to preserve individual rights, ensure the safety of products sold by the corporations (both to humans and the environment), ensure safe and fair working environments.


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## d_saum (Jan 17, 2012)

bahramthered said:


> d_saum: The Carrington event played havoc with primitive electrical wires strung from place to place.
> 
> It would basically be a very low end EMP attack across a very broad area. Many experts think that EMP can only be a threat very close to the target. If nulear testing has really confirmed that, it'd be a lot of static and annoyances but not much more than a hic up. In modern communications so much is now carried by buried cables. Assuming it even hit our side of the world.
> 
> Also on a 500 year average you should put this warring in your will for your great grand kids to prep their kids.


Say what? How in the world can you say with any certainty that it would be "very low end"???? (especially if I'm talking about a solar flare?) And what experts are you referring to? The experts I'm referring to say otherwise.

And do you not remember the 1989 power outage in Canada?

From the link:

"On March 13th, 1989 a huge solar induced magnetic storm played havoc with the ionosphere, and the earth's magnetic field. This storm, the second largest storm experienced in the past 50 years, totally shut down Hydro-Quebec, the power grid servicing Canada's Quebec province. "


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## d_saum (Jan 17, 2012)

ContinualHarvest said:


> I'm not worried about EMP or solar events. I'm more worried about far right mega corporate takeover. Look at big media. Controlled by only 6 major corporations. Look at banking. Big banks consuming other banks like crazy the past few years. The rights of everyday people eroded to give corporations more power over the people that work for them and the people that purchase things from them.
> As I see it now, the regulating agencies are being staffed by the corporate cronies. FDA staffed by a Monsanto Exec, Comcast NBC buying an FCC chairman.
> That's what we need to worry about. The takeover has been going on since the 70's. We need to vote to preserve individual rights, ensure the safety of products sold by the corporations (both to humans and the environment), ensure safe and fair working environments.


Dude... what? We are talking about solar flares here with a little dash of a possible EMP attack. If you want to talk politics, start another thread or go to the political section of the forum. Please don't try to hijack this thread. Thanks and have a nice day.


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

The way the sun has been spewing out flares, and it's supposed to carry into 2013, one aimed at the earth with the proper polarity is pretty close to playing Russian Roulette with a six shooter. Odds are we are going to catch a powerful one that will knock out the electrical grid system all over this country and if it blows out larger transformers we could be in a long spell for getting power back to normal. Power companies don't have extra transformer just setting around, they would have to be made. If the power gets knock out here then most likely it would be world wide so the demand for replacement electrical equipment will be staggering. So a little common sense will show that the reliance on everything electronic will leave a lot of people with their pants down. You have to ask, how would I do living without electrical power? Think you are really prepared for that? Far better to be prepared and have nothing happen than have a freezer full of food that rots or whatever you put so much faith in supplying your needs when all is well. I have come to the conclusion that this love affair of electronics is akin to idolatry.


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