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Scientists around the globe are joining those in the United States in becoming alarmed at the possibility of a plasma cloud from a solar superstorm that could wipe out vast electronics networks, because they say Earth would have only a notice of about 15 minutes.
U.S. space scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrator and the National Aeronautic Space Administration's Goddard Space Flight Center have been expressing concern over what is fast becoming a "solar storm maximum."
And the alarms now are going off globally, with expressions of concern from European Union interests, the European Space Agency and Great Britain's Royal Academy of Engineering, which is urging the British Space Weather Board to help that nation prepare for a massive solar flare.
"Our message is, don't panic, but do prepare – a solar superstorm will happen one day and we need to be ready for it," said Professor Paul Cannon who chaired the Academy's working group.
Given the intensity of the increasing flare spewing from the sun's surface, experts agree that scientists would have only 15 minutes of warning of an intense solar flare – a huge plasma cloud of charged particles that can become a nightmare to unguarded electronics on earth.
Right now, scientists are relying on an ageing satellite called ACE – Advanced Composition Explorer which provides the 15 minutes heads-up.
The concern has been rising as the sun continues spewing out new, massive flares even as Earth moves closer into alignment with the gigantic sun spots producing those flares.
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Ianto listened to the radio as he did his few meagre dishes and prepared for work, the jacket waiting over the back of the chair he had eaten his breakfast sitting in, was the same charcoal grey as the pants and vest snugly hugging his lean frame and the white shirt was pristine. Jack preferred the pale pink shirt with this suit but it had succumbed to the Weevil entrails last week and he had yet to find time to replace it.
He dried the cup he had just scrubbed as he pondered the radio interview.
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Michael Hapgood, who heads the Space Environment at STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom, the infrastructure for the European space weather community provides valuable information to the space science and engineering community spoke earlier.
However, it also has a number of weaknesses, he said, in which the programs are fragmented, there is limited awareness among decision-makers who ultimately control budgets, poor quality of programs are offered and some still regard space weather as a part of astronomy.
To Hapgood, there also are threats to developing useful information. Because of fragmentation of the programs, it leads to piecemeal funding cuts. Space weather products also compete with other areas of astronomy and many, he said, view space between the planets as empty and therefore harmless.
Since satellites are integral to the infrastructure of the U.S., space weather data becomes critically important to anticipate anomalies and potential failures of the satellites. It also is the first step in making the satellites more resistant to such space weather events.
Indeed, numerous studies have shown a correlation of satellite anomalies with space weather. Most anomalies have occurred during periods of space storms. For example, anomalies experienced in 2003 occurred during the October 2003 Halloween storms.
Richard Fisher, NASA heliophysicist, warns about the damages that solar flares, CME, EMP can cause to Earth.
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Ianto sighed as he turned it off, remembering back in 1994 when Telesat's Anik E1 was disabled for some seven hours due to space weather-induced static electricity discharge damage to its control electronics, according to a study by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
The satellite provided communications for all of Canada, underscoring the importance of the satellite. The Canadian press was unable to deliver news to 100 newspapers and 450 radio stations.
An hour after the Anik E1 recovered, Telesat's Anik E2 blanked out. Consequently, some 1,600 remote communities lost their television coverage and data services. In addition, backup systems similarly were damaged "making the U.S. $290 million satellite useless," the NAS report said. Ianto had read it before filing it, as he did most reports like that. He recalled some 100,000 home satellite dish owners had to manually repoint their dishes to E1 and other satellites. The Anik 2 satellite later was put back into operation following a $50 million, six-month recovery effort.
He wondered if Jack was keeping up with this shit and then as he headed out to the foyer he pulled open his letter box to check it and sighed, the little toy car looking back at him.
Ianto turned and looked back up the stairs to the floor of flats he lived on and the little hands gripping the railing of the sitars gave away the culprit.
"Dendy, please stop parking your car in my spot" Ianto scolded as he removed it and slipped it into his pocket, replacing it with a block of chocolate and the little boy's giggle followed him out into the drizzle as he called back. "I will have to borrow your car, the rain is terrible out here. I'll return it later."
"Cost ya a fizzy" came the faint call and Ianto waved back over his shoulder in acknowledgement.
Funny kid.