We're going to need aluminum foil. Lots of it. The Science@NASA team sent out a story today about recent solar activity and the potential for a devastating solar storm during the coming peak. Sunspot and accompanying solar flare activity varies in a roughly-eleven year cycle, with the last minimum being measured in December 2008; the next maximum is predicted for May 2013. The recent minimum lasted longer than expected and the coming maximum is predicted to bring lower than average sunspot activity. The NASA story mentions the great solar flare of 1859 and its effects: over-electrified transmission lines that set fires in telegraph offices, and auroral displays so bright that you could read by them. Imagine the effects of such an event on today's wired civilization. Incidentally, the storm of 1859 occurred during a solar maximum of about the same intensity that is being predicted for 2013.
New Solar Cycle Prediction: Science@NASA
Discovery Channel docudrama, Perfect Disaster:Solar Storm
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