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I'm retired. That's right, retired. I don't want to hear about the cop who stopped you today or how you didn't think you should get a ticket. That just makes me grumpy! -
yeah the stuff i've read even from nasa on the coming solar peak is by far the scariest thing i've read and their prediction on when it will happen also just so happens to land at the end of 2012/start of 2013, perhaps the myan's were right after all, they were amazing astronomers after all.
its pretty simple really, when flares hit our planet's magnetic field it pushes the field closer to the surface, if the flare is powerful enough it could conceivably collapse the magnetic field on the sun facing side of the earth to the point that the flairs magnetic radiation will reach the surface of our planet. if this happens over modern populated areas like the united states it will blowout transformers because they are inductive. some say that shutting down power grids before it hits could conceivably stop or limit the damage caused but it could be pointless because the magnetic energy in the flair itself reaching the transformers will energize them and cause them to uncontrollably output power both ways out the transformer possibly frying anything connected (power plant and us the end users being the two ends) but the main concern is overheating of the transformer causing it to short out and explode and yes high power transformers do blow up to a certain extent, i've seen it happen and i'm sure many people have seen it happen on smaller power line transformers (the cylinder can on your power poles)
this is why solar flares often take out satellites during solar storms, they are closer to our magnetic field than we are here on the surface so they get hit first and its happened many times before with more routine storms
the real issue however is if this does happen and we loose even only 25% of our power grid from a storm the grid will not be able to compensate everywhere for such a loss and from what i've read. due to the high cost and size of major transformers used at distribution sites there are only a certain small amount of backups built and ready to be installed in the event a transformer fails and they do fail from time to time. the time it would take us even not crippled by the loss of power in many areas to repair everything could easily take years due to how much iron and copper is involved in producing transformers of this size not to mention the logistics of making them, transporting them and installing them as well.
its easily the most believable doomsday scenario I've come across and I've always been somewhat interested in this subject for whatever reason.
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From Nasa's website:yeah the stuff i've read even from nasa on the coming solar peak is by far the scariest thing i've read and their prediction on when it will happen also just so happens to land at the end of 2012/start of 2013, perhaps the myan's were right after all, they were amazing astronomers after all.
its pretty simple really, when flares hit our planet's magnetic field it pushes the field closer to the surface, if the flare is powerful enough it could conceivably collapse the magnetic field on the sun facing side of the earth to the point that the flairs magnetic radiation will reach the surface of our planet. if this happens over modern populated areas like the united states it will blowout transformers because they are inductive. some say that shutting down power grids before it hits could conceivably stop or limit the damage caused but it could be pointless because the magnetic energy in the flair itself reaching the transformers will energize them and cause them to uncontrollably output power both ways out the transformer possibly frying anything connected (power plant and us the end users being the two ends) but the main concern is overheating of the transformer causing it to short out and explode and yes high power transformers do blow up to a certain extent, i've seen it happen and i'm sure many people have seen it happen on smaller power line transformers (the cylinder can on your power poles)
this is why solar flares often take out satellites during solar storms, they are closer to our magnetic field than we are here on the surface so they get hit first and its happened many times before with more routine storms
the real issue however is if this does happen and we loose even only 25% of our power grid from a storm the grid will not be able to compensate everywhere for such a loss and from what i've read. due to the high cost and size of major transformers used at distribution sites there are only a certain small amount of backups built and ready to be installed in the event a transformer fails and they do fail from time to time. the time it would take us even not crippled by the loss of power in many areas to repair everything could easily take years due to how much iron and copper is involved in producing transformers of this size not to mention the logistics of making them, transporting them and installing them as well.
its easily the most believable doomsday scenario I've come across and I've always been somewhat interested in this subject for whatever reason.
Question (Q): Are there any threats to the Earth in 2012? Many Internet websites say the world will end in December 2012.
Answer (A): Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.
Q: What is the origin of the prediction that the world will end in 2012?
A: The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012. Then these two fables were linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 -- hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012.
Q: Does the Mayan calendar end in December 2012?
A: Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then -- just as your calendar begins again on January 1 -- another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.
Q: Could a phenomena occur where planets align in a way that impacts Earth?
A: There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades, Earth will not cross the galactic plane in 2012, and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.
"There apparently is a great deal of interest in celestial bodies, and their locations and trajectories at the end of the calendar year 2012. Now, I for one love a good book or movie as much as the next guy. But the stuff flying around through cyberspace, TV and the movies is not based on science. There is even a fake NASA news release out there..."
- Don Yeomans, NASA senior research scientist Q: Is there a planet or brown dwarf called Nibiru or Planet X or Eris that is approaching the Earth and threatening our planet with widespread destruction?
A: Nibiru and other stories about wayward planets are an Internet hoax. There is no factual basis for these claims. If Nibiru or Planet X were real and headed for an encounter with the Earth in 2012, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obviously, it does not exist. Eris is real, but it is a dwarf planet similar to Pluto that will remain in the outer solar system; the closest it can come to Earth is about 4 billion miles.
Q: How do NASA scientists feel about claims of pending doomsday?
A: For any claims of disaster or dramatic changes in 2012, where is the science? Where is the evidence? There is none, and for all the fictional assertions, whether they are made in books, movies, documentaries or over the Internet, we cannot change that simple fact. There is no credible evidence for any of the assertions made in support of unusual events taking place in December 2012.
Q: Is there a danger from giant solar storms predicted for 2012?
A: Solar activity has a regular cycle, with peaks approximately every 11 years. Near these activity peaks, solar flares can cause some interruption of satellite communications, although engineers are learning how to build electronics that are protected against most solar storms. But there is no special risk associated with 2012. The next solar maximum will occur in the 2012-2014 time frame and is predicted to be an average solar cycle, no different than previous cycles throughout history.
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while nasa is the ones that also reported warnings along with many other scientific groups and scientists.
its a real possibility and we know this based on what has happened in the past.
we had one that happened in the mid-late 1800's that fried telegraph lines across the country. those were just simple wires strung on lines and they overloaded and burned we have well over 1 million times that much wire in our country alone today. this is a fact and it's happened before in recent history and its cause is easy to track and predict to a couple year time frame and were entering the predicted time frame right now. we already had one major storm occur about a month ago i want to say, it was not a direct hit but these cycles go on for years and it only takes one powerful direct hit in a solar maximum to cause what has happened just 150~ years ago to happen again.
i'm not a super paranoid person about this stuff, before Y2K hit i laughed at people who thought it would bring the end of the world, it caused some problems but that was mainly because companies did not spend the time or money on getting their systems fixed to correct for the error.
there are of course other doomsday events that are possible and have happened before but they do not show the kind of possibility and predictability as this one. those would be a super volcano eruption (see Yellowstone national park) or of course a major asteroid collision which by the way we just a week or so ago had two major asteroids pass closer to our planet than our own moon is, we knew they would miss but one is predicted to collide with us in something like 100 years from now so its not an immediate concern but that is a fact and predicted by astronomers world wide once they were discovered it only recently IIRC
it's also pretty simple why they would not want this to be major news. if they did it could and probably would cause mass panic. one thing is for sure if we get a major CME headed to us we will have at least a day or two warning thanks to our satellites that monitor the sun for this very reason. what happens afterward who knows if it happens.Comment
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In scientific circles where solar flares, magnetic storms and other unique solar events are discussed, the occurrences of September 1-2, 1859, are the star stuff of legend. Even 144 years ago, many of Earth's inhabitants realized something momentous had just occurred. Within hours, telegraph wires in both the United States and Europe spontaneously shorted out, causing numerous fires, while the Northern Lights, solar-induced phenomena more closely associated with regions near Earth's North Pole, were documented as far south as Rome, Havana and Hawaii, with similar effects at the South Pole.Back in 1859 the invention of the telegraph was only 15 years old and society's electrical framework was truly in its infancy. A 1994 solar storm caused major malfunctions to two communications satellites, disrupting newspaper, network television and nationwide radio service throughout Canada. Other storms have affected systems ranging from cell phone service and TV signals to GPS systems and electrical power grids. In March 1989, a solar storm much less intense than the perfect space storm of 1859 caused the Hydro-Quebec (Canada) power grid to go down for over nine hours, and the resulting damages and loss in revenue were estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
"The question I get asked most often is, 'Could a perfect space storm happen again, and when?'" added Tsurutani. "I tell people it could, and it could very well be even more intense than what transpired in 1859. As for when, we simply do not know," he said.Last edited by dmax11; 09-16-2010, 8:29 PM.Comment
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another good article on it. nobody is claiming its going to happen but what everyone is saying is that it has a decent chance of happening between 2012-13Comment
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A 1911 will protect you from ancient Mayans and solar flares, Right?sigpicNRA Benefactor MemberComment
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It's another Y2K... Just another way to get more money.Comment
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No disrepect but all of your threads are retarded 
they've ALL been discussed ad nauseum..
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