Perfect Space Storm Could be Catastrophic on Earth, Study Concludes

"Modern power grids are so interconnected that a big space storm -- the type expected to occur about once a century -- could cause a cascade of failures that would sweep across the United States, cutting power to 130 million people or more in this country alone, the new report concludes."

The fun part is their predicition that solar storm activity will peak in 2012.

-Blast

Right when we will have global flooding, collide with Nibaru and have no power to see it coming.... awesome!!

So we have 3 years to prepare :-P

after the grid went down in Quebec in the last big solar storm some years ago new equipment has been added to prevent and contain any overloads. also new satelites are now watching solar activity and would provide a warning of a major storm.i check in on the web sites for those satelites at Space Weather.Com to see what the chance of having a good display of the Northern Lights will be when i'm up north canoeing..

Maybe this is the "Something big" I keep feeling is going to happen. That would make me the solar equivalent one of those little lizards that freak out before an earthquake.

So what I don't get is, if the wires are insulated to help prevent loss of electricity/protection (etc)... what doesnt't that insulate from EM storms? Or, is it just not think enough for the magnitude of the event?

AFAIK the lines are NOT insulated.

The lines ARE NOT insulated unless it is the actual feed into a structure from the pole, or underground. That is why there are insulators on the poles and towers.

I tell you what. I am boycotting the Sun. It does nothing but try to kill us.

This is one of the reasons that I am so concerned about an EMP effect/incident in this country.

P.S. All of you "tin foil hat wearers" need to remove your hats before a major solar storm hits or else your brains will become zombie-ized and those fried brains are considered a delicacy by 57 different alien species!!!

To expand on earlier posts, I actually don’t think it even matters if the lines are insulated or not. Insulation on wires is solely to prevent the electricity in the wire from diverting into another conductive object (short circuit) if that object touches the wire. In geomagnetic storms, physical contact is not a factor, so physical insulation is moot. The shifting magnetic fields of a geomagnetic storm induce currents in electrical lines whether they are physically insulated or not, much the same way a spinning magnet can induce current in a coil of wire whether it is insulated or not.