SOLAR FLARE - Could You Survive? We live in a communication age to where anything is accessible at any time, sometimes that technology is great and sometimes we overindulge. We live our lives not thinking about what could happen tomorrow and we definitely live our lives not worrying about what could happen if a catastrophe would knock out all of this communication that we are so obsessed with. What forms of communication would be gone, what would still continue to work, and would we be cut off all together are my questions? “Geomagnetic storms can interfere directly with GPS and radio communication because of the ionosphere disturbances. The interference can range from induced noise to complete signal loss. Geomagnetic storms can indirectly …show more content…
It is very possible for an unknown amount of time, for us to be solely reliant on ourselves without all that we now know and need. “Dynamic simulations of extreme geomagnetic storms suggest that the total human population at risk of extended outage from a Carrington-level storm ranges between 20- 40 million in the at-risk areas, with durations of 16 days up to 1-2 years.” (Lloyds). The time line for outages could range for years, knowing that how do we fend for ourselves, how do we start over. So, the question is could we survive a solar flare that would wipe out all of beloved technology and communication, would we even want to? The obvious answer is yes, of course we could survive, and past generations lived without any knowledge of the technology today and for the most part did it well. Yet, with the knowledge we have of all things tech inspired I believe it would make it more difficult and knowing that communication isn’t just a thumb scroll away. How would we be able to get in touch with our families and ensure everyone’s safety? Of course new communication would begin, would we return to sending letters? We have to foresee that communication as we know it now would greatly change, persuasion would change as well, bartering would surely make …show more content…
We hope that nothing goes that far but can it, is it closer than we know. We take for granted all that we have and the very ease of all that we literally hold in our hand. I know I for one never go anywhere without some form of communication with my family, the very thought of being cut off from them leaves me scared out of my mind. So if an event happens, like a solar flare, we would lose all that we obsess over, but maybe that’s not all bad. The question is would we, could we survive an event that cuts off all that we hold dear, what would the effects be, and how do we reach our loved ones. The Shield Act says some of us would survive, “Should the electrical power system be lost for any substantial period of time the consequences are likely to be catastrophic to society, including potential casualties in excess of 60% of the population” (Franks). If we are some of the lucky living after the flares, life would change drastically, going from having the world at our hands to being cut off would be very difficult. I for one would have a hard time adapting, but I do believe that for the most part we would continue on with our lives, maybe in just a more sheltered form of it. Many of us do not have the luxury of living near our entire families, so being able to communicate via text, phone or email is vital. I think that
Since World War I and World War II the military technology with regards to communication has increasingly improved. Years ago, if a message was conveyed it was likely to be delivered on foot or horseback. Communications using modern equipment began once the US Army Signal Corps was established. World War I took place before the modern radio. When dispatch riders were not being used to deliver messages, morse code with the use of the telegraph was the more advanced form of communication during that time. The main problem with
A hurricane is a large swirling storm with strong winds. Hurricanes can blow up to 74 miles per hour or higher. The storms form over warm ocean water and sometimes strike land. According to the Simpson Hurricane scale, a category one hurricane has 74 to 95 mile an hour wind speed which is faster than a cheetah. A category three hurricane has 111 to 129 mile an hour wind speeds, which is the speed of pro tennis players serving speed. Lastly, a category five hurricane contains speeds up to 157 miles an hour, close to the speed of some high velocity trains. When a hurricane reaches land, it pushes a wall of ocean water ashore, this wall of ocean water is called a storm surge. The eye of the hurricane is the “hole” at the center of the storm. The
However, they only briefly present issues that directly affect the populace in-terms of economic and social impact. The literature fails to take into account how underprepared many citizens are equipped to deal with a natural or technological hazard. In recent years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has continued to push the concept of being prepared for a 72 hour emergency. The question is the populous prepared to a catastrophic emergency? If not, is this being accounted for in the risk
The debate over if humans can survive a nuclear war or not is an interesting topic. The article, “Let’s Be Clear. There is No Surviving a Nuclear War,” is written by James E. Doyle and Ira Helfand. The article was posted on Newsweek.com on August 20, 2015. This article was written to challenge the argument that people can survive a nuclear war. The authors are hoping that the audience will carry out action to prevent nuclear wars all together. An unfamiliar audience, or an audience who is mildly opposed to their views, are the type of audience that Doyle and Helfand are writing this article for. The main claim of this article is that the devastating
On August 14th, 2003, a major blackout swept across portions of the northeastern United States and Canada. It was reported that a series of equipment outages in the Midwest led to uncontrolled cascading outages of power transmission lines and generators serving parts of the Northeast, Midwest and Canada. Automatic protective systems operated to open circuits and shut down power plants to prevent further spread of the outages. This is very similar to what happened in The Great Northeast Blackout of 1965. In both situations, the “grid system” shut down one generator in line at a time to protect a surge from the station before it.
Hurricane irma began August 30th. Hurricane irma developed from a tropical wave that developed off the west African coast two days earlier. It rapidly strengthened into category 2 storm within 24 hours. Hurricane irma’s intensity fluctuated in the days to follow and on September 4 became a category 4 hurricane.
To make matters worse, Irma, which resulted in one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history, unexpectedly veered west, hitting the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area, which has not been in the direct path of a hurricane in over a century.As of Tuesday September 12, almost 6.5 million people across the “Sunshine State” remain without power, and overwhelmed utility companies are not sure when it will be restored. The low-lying Keys, which suffered some of the worst damage, have limited electricity, gas, and water. Though residents of the Middle Keys, Lower Keys, and Miami were allowed to return home this morning, over 100,000 Florida remain in shelters and millions more are slowly trickling back after taking refuge in other
In the past, the United States has already repeatedly occurred the blackout. Especially in 1977, there was a large-scale power outages and the city became a big mess. At that time, blackout of 1977 not only resulting in significant economic losses, but also a power shortage triggered kind of serious public problems. It could be the strong contrast with the past blackout, so the blackout of 1977 was more striking and deeply impressive.
After the hurricane has either dissipated or moved away from your area, listen to the local news for updates. Use flashlights if your power went out. If you have been evacuated, return home when officials say it's safe.
Computers, TVs, and various other electronics not only hold the capacity to destroy humanity, but already began to extinguish it. Because of these inventions, people of all ages are affected negatively. Society’s social skills and morals dramatically decreased since the thriving of technology. Some people do not see the downsides to these sources of entertainment; all they see is the pros and do not want to change anything about the amount of usage of these inventions. But what happens when the world reaches a point in time where humans will not be able to function normally without these sources of entertainment because of their addictions to them? Does that not seem like something the world should be worried about?
Natural Disasters can occur anywhere at anytime. Some are more predictable than others, but they all bring hardship to everyone’s life. Examples of natural disasters are Earthquakes (Haiti 2010), Tornadoes, Tsunami, Hurricanes, Wild Fires, Winter Storms, Heat waves, Mudslides and Floods. Regardless of what kind of disaster occurs, bottom line, everyone needs to be prepared mentally and physically to deal with the aftermath. Education is the first step to prepare you to deal with any major disaster. Three of the major disasters that can potentially disrupt normal day to day operations in our lives, are Hurricanes, Tsunamis and Tornadoes.
Having communication had made it easier for humans to do everything more efficiently and helped people catch up with what's happening around the world. Since the telephone era, communication has been on the rise and there is no one who can stop the advancement of technology. Communication has opened new doors for everything that relays on technology, that’s why it's the most important piece of technology out there.
In 1910, Arthur Eddington, a British Astrophysicist, discovered solar winds. Solar winds are basically a continuous flow (they are never ending basically) of particles from the sun. They are also known as stellar winds. Their usual way out of the sun is the coronal holes. Their main cause is an expansion of gases in the corona, which is the outer layer of the sun. The idea that the corona is plasma was thought of by Richard C. Carrington. The temperature of the corona is 2,200,000 degrees Celsius. It is so hot that not even the sun’s gravity can contain it. It heats gases and makes them expand. The gas items run into each other as they are heated. As a result, they lose their electrons. Then, the atoms become ions with a positive charge, the electrons and ions (which are mostly Hydrogen ions) make up the solar wind. The velocity of solar winds goes from 250 to 1000 kilometers every second. It has a density of 82 ions for every cubic inch, or 5 ions per cubic centimeter. Solar winds are the cause of many occurrences in the solar system like Mercury having no atmosphere, and Venus’ acidic, radiation filled clouds. They are also known as electrically charged hurricanes.
...ntact their loved ones. There are actually books, like “When Technology Fails” by Matthew Stein, that explain how to survive without technology. Nowadays we either rely on technology to do something for us or for technology to tell us how to do something further causing us to lost skills older generations learned. So when those generations are gone, and technology fails, we will be doomed.
Have we become too dependent on our technology? If an electromagnetic pulse were to somehow encompass the earth and suddenly knock out all technology, could we survive without it? Take, for instance, just the facets of the smart phones we use that require “screen-time.” Our use of these types of technology has become so pervasive that it affects almost every facet of ours and our children’s lives. In order to maintain our ability to act independently of these types of technology, it may be in our best interest to start limiting, at least to some extent, our use of and dependence on them. There are a few reasons to suggest limiting cell phone usage, one being peace of mind, not always checking for that last email, post, tweet or