RIDING OUT SOLAR EVENTS (PDF-1793)

Two large X-Class solar flares in a row (like we had yesterday) is unusual, not to mention that we have had a pretty quiet sun for some time. [and a third one this morning]. This indeed is an event. Scientists concern themselves, and rightly so, with the effect of solar flares on various radio transmissions and the possibility that such a flare could bring down the communications or electric grids and cause damage that could take weeks or months to overcome. This happened in 1989, when a smallish flare took out Hydro Quebec's electric grid, leaving Canadians without power for an extended period.