Sun’s ‘killer flare’ won’t end earth
For all the doomsayers predicting that the world will come to an end
in 2012, at least one of the potential reasons for earth’s destruction
has been knocked off. US space agency NASA has said a gigantic solar
‘killer flare’ will not devastate earth.
Many people have been worrying about the gigantic ‘killer flare’
which could be hurled by the sun and finish off life on earth. But the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says there simply
isn’t enough energy in the sun to send a killer fireball 93 million
miles away. Given the fact that solar activity is currently ramping up
its standard 11-year cycle, there is a belief that 2012 could be
coinciding with such a flare.
But this same solar cycle has occurred over the millennia. Anyone
over the age of 11 has already lived through such a solar maximum with
no harm. Besides, the next solar maximum is predicted to occur in late
2013 or early 2014, not 2012, according to a NASA statement.
This is not to say that space weather can’t affect our planet. The
explosive heat of a solar flare can’t reach our globe, but
electromagnetic radiation and energetic particles can.
Solar flares can temporarily affect signal transmission from, say, a
Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite to earth causing it to be off
by many yards. Another phenomenon produced by the sun could be even more
disruptive.
Known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), these solar explosions propel
bursts of particles and electromagnetic fluctuations into earth’s
atmosphere. Those fluctuations could induce electric fluctuations at
ground level that could blow out transformers in power grids. The CME’s
particles can also collide with crucial electronics onboard a satellite
and disrupt its systems.
In an increasingly technological world, where almost everyone relies
on cell phones and GPS controls not just your in-car map system but also
airplane navigation and the extremely accurate clocks that govern
financial transactions, space weather is a serious matter.
But it is a problem the same way hurricanes are a problem. One can
protect oneself with advance information and proper precautions.
During a hurricane watch, a homeowner can stay put ... or he can seal
up the house, turn off the electronics and get out of the way.
Coutesy: Hindustan Times |
