Carrington Event Solar Storms Could Cost $40 billion Per Day

We have blogged numerous times on The Carrington Event over the past years.  So some of you might know what it is but many of you probably don't.

The Carrington Event was a massive solar storm that blanketed earth back in 1859.  There was very little electrical infrastructure at that time so most people on planet earth kept plowing with their horses and picking eggs from the coop without any knowledge of what was happening.

However, for the few places that had telegraph, the solar storm was disastrous.  It shocked operators and caused fires in the wooden telegraph offices.

So what if a solar storm of the same magnitude happened on planet earth tomorrow, next month or next year?

Below is the headline from a few days ago;

Carrington-Like Solar Storm That Could Hit Earth Within Next Decade May Cost US More Than $40 Billion Daily

Should a powerful solar storm hit Earth, the event could cause blackouts that will likely result in $41.5 billion daily economic losses in the United States alone.

Carrington Event

The most powerful solar flare documented to strike Earth is the Carrington event. The coronal mass ejection, which is produced during solar flares, that struck Earth on September 1859 caused auroras around the world.

Telegraph systems in Europe and North America failed and operators had electric shocks from the devices as a result of the solar event. Some machines also continued to work even after they were disconnected from electricity.

Chances Of A Carrington-Like Event Happening Within The Next Decade

A 2012 paper by space physicist Pete Riley, of Predictive Science in San Diego, California, revealed that the likelihood of another Carrington event happening within the next decade is about 12 percent.
Findings of a new study published in Space Weather revealed the economic impact of such a sufficiently powerful solar storm if it would affect Earth. The event could knock out the transformers needed to transmit electricity throughout the country's power grids which could lead to power blackouts.

Economic Implications Of A Powerful Solar Storm

Earlier studies only looked at the direct economic costs within the blackout zones and did not consider the extreme space weather's indirect impact on domestic and international supply chain.
Now, researchers of the new study said that the direct economic cost that could be incurred from disruption of electricity represents only 49 percent of the possible macroeconomic costs. In most extreme blackout scenario that could affect 66 percent of the population in the United States, domestic economic loss in a day could be $41.5 billion. Loss associated with the international supply chain would be at $7 billion.

"By exploring the sensitivity of the blackout zone, we show that on average the direct economic cost incurred from disruption to electricity represents only 49% of the total potential macroeconomic cost," the researchers wrote in their study.

"Therefore, if indirect supply chain costs are not considered when undertaking cost-benefit analysis of space weather forecasting and mitigation investment, the total potential macroeconomic cost is not correctly represented."

Experts have varied views on the potential severity of blackouts associated with CMEs. Some think that the outages would last only hours or up to a few days. Other think that blackouts would last weeks or even months because transmission networks could be knocked out and would require replacements.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/193852/20170122/carrington-like-solar-storm-that-could-hit-earth-within-next-decade-may-cost-us-more-than-40-billion-daily.htm

Could this happen?  Absolutely.

POWER OUT FOR MONTHS?????

Wait a second.....we can't survive without power for even a few hours!!  Our freezers!  Our cell phones!  Our laptops!!  Our shopping malls!!  Our heaters!!

Some studies have shown that if power went out for months in America that millions would die.

Of course they would.  Where would they get food?  Where would they get water?  How scared would millions of people stuck in the cities actually become?  How desperate would they become?

Would they be willing to steal food for themselves or their kids?

Yep.

Would they be willing to beat or kill someone to save themselves?

Yep.

You are talking about total societal meltdown.....and according to the article it could happen any day.

So why do we blog about this?

Because I believe it's important to understand how many blessings we take for granted.  Did you have a hot shower today?  Did you have lunch?  Did you sleep in a soft bed last night?  Were you warm under all your blankets on  a cold MN night?  Did you use a flush toilet?  Did you watch the morning news on TV while you ate breakfast?

I also believe it's important to understand just how loose our reality actually is.

I think sometimes we totally forget that we are living on a huge rock spinning around at 1000 mph and hurtling through space at 60,000 mph as the rock makes it's annual pilgrimage around the sun....AND WE DON'T HAVE A STEERING WHEEL!

I believe it's important for us to reflect on, and give praise to God Almighty....who holds the whole world in His hands.  Without Him...we are nothing.