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CME caused auroras hit Minnesota

February 20th, 2014 | Posted by Dr.Carrington Reid in Events - (0 Comments)

The plasma wave from the coronal mass ejection grazed the Earth yesterday, its effects were more seen than felt.

Video from Saint Cloud MN, show the beauty of the Northern lights from this most recent moderate G2 geomagnetic storm.

A Minnesota owl illuminated by the light of an aurora (Photo Douglas Kiesling)

A Minnesota owl illuminated by the light of an aurora (Photo Douglas Kiesling)

These images offer us a reminder of the “what ifs” that should guide each of us and our governments in preparation (see our other post about government agency discussion about power grid assessments and protections):  What if the storm were bigger?  What if the bulk f the wave of plasma hit the Earth, rather than just grazed it?

The CMERI have been very open about what we believe the answers to these “what ifs” are: As our founder Dr. Reid has said, Any day now we will be hit with a solar storm that will return us back to the Stone Age!”.

Can magnetic storms cause earthquakes too?

February 18th, 2014 | Posted by Dr.Carrington Reid in News - (1 Comments)
Domino effect: Solar storms affect Earth's magnetic fields, which affect Earth

Domino effect: Solar storms affect Earth’s magnetic fields, which affect Earth

We have been preaching about the dangers of large solar storms and related coronal mass ejections and their effects on our power grid, telecommunications satellites, on astronauts in the International Space Station and even the health of people on Earth.  But did you know that solar storms may actually lead to earthquakes?

According to Namig Jalilov of the Astrophysical Observatory, the last solar generated magnetic storm, from the flare we reported on three days ago,. did not cause any technical failures, but it did affect people with high blood pressure and related diseases.   The relation to solar flares & CMEs to human health is widely known.

But solar flares spawned from our Sun’s current Solar Maximum period my lead also to earthquakes?  So says Mr Jalilov (Reported on en.apa.az) ,

The last strong earthquake hit Baku in 2000, another happened recently. Both earthquakes occurred at the peak of solar activity and magnetic storms. Statistical indicators show that the strength of earthquakes occurring on the earth is directly related to solar activity. When solar activity is at its maximum, tides and earthquakes increase on the Earth.”

Ironically, the same news organization published later today another article stating that the earthquake on 2/10 near Baku, posited to be related to solar flares, is baseless.

The bottom line is that scientists just do not know!  But there are suspicions that magnetic field disruptions due to excessive CMEs may be affecting the Earth in unique, but deleterious ways.

We will provide you updates as we learn more on this issue.  Thank you!

Dr. Carrington Reid

 

Possible X-class flare within the next three days

February 14th, 2014 | Posted by Dr.Carrington Reid in Events | News - (0 Comments)
SDO Eclipse Flare

SDO Eclipse Flare

From a joint USAF/NOAA Solar Geophysical Activity Report (#44) released 2/13/14:

there is a moderate to slight chance for an X-class flare from 2/14 through 2/16.

This activity is associated with the anticipated arrival of multiple CMEs first observed on 2/11 & 2/12.

Although quite active for the past few weeks, the sun’s geomagnetic activity has be quiet for the past 24 hours.  It is expected to continue to be active intermittently over the next 30 days per this report.

What does all this mean to us here on Earth?  If the sun launches an X-class solar flare, we might find accompanying larger CME activity.  However, most scientists are not predicting this.  At a minimum, we are looking at satellite and radio communication disruptions, and some radiation worries for high altitude aircraft as well as the ISS.  I am however more concerned with the unbalanced nature of the sun’s sunspot & geomagnetic activity with both maybe precursors to a much larger event (see Carrington Flare) of the kind we have feared.

We will continue to update you as we know more.

Dr. Reid