Since then, less powerful storms have cut electricity and affected telephone service, radio stations and satellites in Earth’s orbit.
Lloyds of London has released a report on the expected harm in the event of a severe solar storm. Neil Smith helped write the report. He says the next major storm could be very destructive because the world now depends so much on power supply grids.
“We are estimating that 20-40 million people might be without power from anywhere up to one, even two years.”
He also says the number of people without power could result in an economic cost of between $500 million and $2.6 trillion.
The report mainly deals with the effect of a solar storm on North America. But Mr. Smith says that if a storm destroyed electrical transformers in other areas, the loss of electricity would also harm those economies.
Energy released by solar activity races through space at speeds of three million to five million kilometers an hour. These coronal mass ejections reach Earth in less than two days. Scientists like Michael Wiltberger can watch them at the speed of light, less than eight minutes after the sun releases energy into the atmosphere. This observation gives space scientists some time to predict the effects of solar activity.
But Mr. Wiltberger says predicting exactly when and where a storm will hit is much more difficult. He says the computer models help weather scientists watch a storm and improve predictions. He hopes that system can be operating within five years.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25