The Carrington Event Revisited

Acid skies and burning bushes are mythical images from long ago, but today's climate change reflects a growing understanding that global warming is a real threat to life in our neck of the Milky Way.

Solar flares are tracked by NASA with a fleet of space craft monitoring the sun because it is well known that the damage from such flares could be catastrophic to our digital civilization.

(Check-NOAA/Space Weather Prediction Center)

Solar weather runs in cycles and the current one will peak in 2013. The real threat is that the sun could belch out a massive flare of electromagnetic radiation our way and disrupt radios, satellite transmissions, power grids, and other communication systems offline for days on end. The added financial losses could also run into the trillions of dollars, with no real prospect of immediate recovery.

The Carrington Event of 1859 gave a glimpse of what such a powerful flare would produce in our present day world of digital dependency. Then, the setback was limited to our nascent communication system at the time, as telegraphic machines were set ablaze and spectacular auroras painted the sky for all to see. To revisit such an event today, would be unthinkable.

In ancient times, the Egyptians worshiped the sun god Ra. They may have had some insight into this powerhouse that is at the center of our very existence. Perhaps, a little worship from us now is in order.

Love and peace in our lifetime

Esprit