BTW - here comes the next sunspot cycle!
Next sunspot cycle
A new 11-year cycle of heightened solar activity,
bringing with it increased risks for power grids, critical military, civilian
and airline communications, GPS signals and even cell phones and ATM
transactions, showed signs it was on its way when the cycle’s first
sunspot appeared in the sun’s Northern Hemisphere, NOAA scientists
said.
“This sunspot is like the first robin of spring,” said solar physicist Douglas Biesecker. “In this case, it’s an early omen of solar storms that will gradually increase over the next few years.”
A sunspot is an area of highly organized magnetic activity on the surface of the sun. The new 11-year cycle, called Solar Cycle 24, is expected to build gradually, with the number of sunspots and solar storms reaching a maximum by 2011 or 2012, though devastating storms can occur at any time.
How many more satellites and sensitive systems, how many more devices are we relying on compared to, say, a decade ago? Should be interesting.
“This sunspot is like the first robin of spring,” said solar physicist Douglas Biesecker. “In this case, it’s an early omen of solar storms that will gradually increase over the next few years.”
A sunspot is an area of highly organized magnetic activity on the surface of the sun. The new 11-year cycle, called Solar Cycle 24, is expected to build gradually, with the number of sunspots and solar storms reaching a maximum by 2011 or 2012, though devastating storms can occur at any time.
How many more satellites and sensitive systems, how many more devices are we relying on compared to, say, a decade ago? Should be interesting.
Posted: Tue - January 8, 2008 at 02:07 PM