Earth welcomes 'Cosmic Katrina'

US scientists worry that an imminent storm could disable the entire electrical system, telephone network, even the earth's water supply system.

The impact of solar storms on earth is not something new. In 1859, a "solar wind" caused the phone lines to burn.

Today, the entire information network of the world is becoming more sensitive than ever. It is hard to imagine how big the damage would be if the entire system was no longer functioning.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is working to produce a report on the Sun's "storm" in the near future and hopes to report it will be a wake-up call for all humanity about a potential hazard. .

The probability of destruction of the magnetic storm of the sun is small but if it happens, it will be terrible.

"We are not trying to be a warning," said Dan Baker, head of NAS's "storm" research program. We just want to show everyone how much our communication system can be affected. '

The sun is operating in a fairly strict rule. Every 11 years, it releases a wave of charged particles forming the solar "storm" once. The scientists expected the next time of the event to be in 2012.

During this time, the Sun releases billions of tons of matter to earth in the form of a magnetic storm, which can affect all of our electrical equipment.

How horrible is 'Katrina' from this universe? The NAS report will show that it is likely to affect every aspect of the modern world, " Baker said.

According to him, the entire network is vulnerable and can be completely disabled. The paralyzed power system will lead to a terrible domino effect: The entire system of transport, communications, trade, government agencies will cease to function. The pumps that are not working will lead to paralysis of the water supply network, and then a series of medicines and food will be damaged because the cooling systems are no longer working. Not only that, as long as a region in the world is affected, the whole world cannot avoid the impact.

"If you think Katrina hurts terrible economic losses? That may be true on earth, but with 'Katrina' from this universe, it's just a dwarf," Baker warned.

The NAS report says we will lose between US $ 1 and 2,000 billion in the first year, then it will take 4 - 10 years to restore everything.

Photograph of the operation of a solar storm in 2000.

All satellite and GPS communication systems are also useless. 'People have been using GPS devices for a few years, so we are sure that the impact is heavier than we can imagine , ' said Douglas Biesecker, a solar physicist at the weather forecast center. Colorado universe identified.

The number of GPS devices used increased from 2 million in 2004 to 27 million in 2007. Therefore, the collapse of the GPS system will cause many serious problems, especially the control systems save.

The weather on the sun is not the same as on earth. Meteorologists can predict the weather of our planet a few days in advance to alert people. But so far scientists have no way to predict the "weather of the universe".