What would a perfect solar storm do to modern society?

[bascule]

The Solar Storm of 1859 represents what some call a "perfect solar storm". Through the coincidental convergence of conditions it was so strong it set fire to telegraph lines and created auroras that could be seen as far from the poles as Rome.

 

Could this happen again? If it did, what would become of our technologically dependent society?

Edited November 3, 2009 by bascule

[RyanJ]

As with most things in science it is not a matter of if it will happen but when it will happen.

 

If we have enough time before the event satellites and power grids can be put into safe mode to minimize any damage caused. If we didn't have enough time then the grids could be taken offline by the storms and many of the satellites fried by the radiation.

[SH3RL0CK]

Certainly a large solar storm could and probably will happen again.

 

Having the knowledge to build, and therefore rebuild our communications and power systems, it seems to me that even in the worst case, society would quickly rebuilt whatever was damaged or destroyed. I wouldn't expect a return to the stone ages, but perhaps a 1-2 or even 5 year recession or mild depression while we rebuilt.

[CaptainPanic]

Society would pretty much grind to a complete halt I think because we would get blackouts everywhere. And I've been told that it will take months or even years to replace the transformers... so that's a pretty long blackout. Please note: I'm no expert, and I just wrote down info from "hearsay"... so please doublecheck it if it's important to you.

 

Do satellites (GPS and communication satellites) have any protection against a big solar storm? Or will they just get fried and become a lump of metal and silicon in orbit? If such satellites go down, the world might change for decades. We wouldn't know what's happening everywhere anymore.

Edited November 3, 2009 by CaptainPanic

[ydoaPs]

Mild depression? I was under the impression that almost all of the economy these days is handled digitally.

[RyanJ]

Society would pretty much grind to a complete halt I think because we would get blackouts everywhere. And I've been told that it will take months or even years to replace the transformers... so that's a pretty long blackout. Please note: I'm no expert, and I just wrote down info from "hearsay"... so please doublecheck it if it's important to you.

 

Only provided the power systems aren't put into safe mode first. Otherwise there would be minimal damage only.

 

Do satellites (GPS and communication satellites) have any protection against a big solar storm? Or will they just get fried and become a lump of metal and silicon in orbit? If such satellites go down, the world might change for decades. We wouldn't know what's happening everywhere anymore.

 

They do have protection. The storms only affect things that are currently active so putting the satellites into a low power state (safe mode) would prevent damage to the systems.

 

Precautions have been taken to ensure that such things are quite preventable.

[SH3RL0CK]

Well, certainly the potential exists for great damage. I was under the impression however that this possibility has been anticipated and the power and communication systems have been constructed with the appropriate safety components. If this is true, the damage would be minimal, which is what I base my guesstimation on. However I could be mistaken on this point.

[RyanJ]

Well, certainly the potential exists for great damage. I was under the impression however that this possibility has been anticipated and the power and communication systems have been constructed with the appropriate safety components. If this is true, the damage would be minimal, however I could be mistaken on this point.

 

No. You are correct. They have added a lot of safety systems to the power and communication systems over the years that should greatly reduce the risk of anything catastrophic. The satellite systems are still quite a worry though.

[A Tripolation]

The Solar Storm of 1859 represents what some call a "perfect solar storm". Through the coincidental convergence of conditions it was so strong it set fire to telegraph lines and created auroras that could be seen as far from the poles as Rome.

 

Could this happen again? If it did, what would become of our technologically dependent society?

 

I think this about sums it up:

 

 

Credit to Pangloss for the gif

[SH3RL0CK]

No. You are correct. They have added a lot of safety systems to the power and communication systems over the years that should greatly reduce the risk of anything catastrophic. The satellite systems are still quite a worry though.

 

Assuming the absolute worst that all satelites fail, would the communications of the globe be critically impaired? There will still be undersea cables, radio transmissions, etc. I don't know what percentage is transfered by satellite. It seems to me, however, that we would get by just fine without live broadcast of the 2016 Olympics until we could replace the satellites as long as even a small percentage of communications can be handled without satelites.

[RyanJ]

In the worst case GPS would be gone (unless the military have some shielded satellites that they aren't making public, even then those would be only for their use).

 

Most mobile phone signals and most aircraft calls are sent via satellites at some point so those would be damaged badly.

 

In the event of total system failure like that the communication companies probably have backups in place, such as land lines, that could take the signals in such a situation. If this is the case or not though I am unsure. Can anyone clarify this point?

[padren]

No. You are correct. They have added a lot of safety systems to the power and communication systems over the years that should greatly reduce the risk of anything catastrophic. The satellite systems are still quite a worry though.

 

Safety systems are generally scaled to handle a certain level of threat, starting with the most likely and rarely going to the expense of rare threats. Are they protected against "solar storms" or "most solar storms" realistically?

[RyanJ]

Safety systems are generally scaled to handle a certain level of threat, starting with the most likely and rarely going to the expense of rare threats. Are they protected against "solar storms" or "most solar storms" realistically?

 

There is limited information on their exact protection measures. I believe the systems they use are block isolators which allow them to basically shut down sections of the power lines and so on to prevent power surges being spread over large areas and thus containing the damage.

 

How well this would work for a severe vs. a usual solar storm I cannot tell you.

[Mr Skeptic]

The military will be thumbing their noses at us plebes who didn't want to spend extra to buy a system hardened against EM.