Most researchers think it was a solar storm—an extraordinary one. Often, we point to the Carrington Event of 1859 as the worst-case scenario for solar storms. The 774-75 AD storm was at least 10 times stronger; if it happened today, it would floor modern technology. Since Miyake’s initial discovery, she and others have confirmed five more examples (12,450 BC, 7176 BC, 5259 BC,”
In retrospect it was almost certain there were other Carrington events possibly many other that occurred in the last 10000 years during the age of human civilization more or less it’s only in the last century give or take that we have any decrudice of electronics that would have given a clear indicator other than things like spectacular Aurora borealis or things that primited people with been amazed by but wouldn’t really have understood what was going on. Is something like that Miyake event happened now it would be enough to plunge us into a dark age probably analogous to the novel and movie series “The Road” it would be sudden without any warning and would pretty much fry all of our electronic civilization cars wouldn’t power plants wouldn’t run etc
Older cars and trucks without electronics (i.e. carbureted cars and glow-plug diesels) and engines with magnetos (like my lawnmower) would probably still work. Some ultralights. Maybe if you’ve got an old rotary engine biplane hanging around… My old riding mower has a magneto, but I never could start it without using the battery-electric starter. It’s an interesting set of problems, though I’ve never written a story about it. My EOW apocalypse story is “Moments of Inertia,” which is too esoteric for most readers. I wouldn’t die right off, except maybe from heart failure drawing water from my well by bucket. Eventually my meds would run out and some months later I’d expire quietly.
There are many antique tractors around that’d probably survive.
I often wonder if these effects are grossly exaggerated. Our geomagnetic field, ionosphere etc. help with high energy rays jostling lose bad charged nuclei within the box . Many computers are housed in grounded metal cases. And most electronics aren’t connected to miles of “antenna” wire.
Even so how many major large megalopolises like New York City or London etc would crash with their power systems down for weeks or months how long do you think it would take for society to degenerate to the sort of barbarism depicted in the road? It’s not just the structural damage to infrastructure like power distribution is how society would react to it if it was for an extended period of time let’s say months, especially if it was completely unexpected and unprepared for
Hopefully you’re right I’m not really a dystopian by temperament I’m more of an optimist most likely there would be places where that sort of degeneration might happen for a while but as you stated probably wouldn’t be global Tokyo or some place like that would probably deal with it far more readily than say New York would… On the other hand while the population is far more disciplined well-behaved than ours is I believe Japan is far more dependent on imported food what happens when the power grid goes down ships don’t work etc railways don’t work
Reminds me to inspect the metallic case around my standby generator. Make sure it’s well grounded…
Pretty grim prognosis… Only hope would be an aggressive Elon Musk style space program. I’m not talking about hiding on the moon or Mars I’m talking about deploying some sort of thousands of miles long superconducting cables high above the Earth to deflect the incoming solar flare charged particle radiation of that intensity around the Earth. It wouldn’t be an impenetrable force field just something that deflects the beam path so that misses the Earth. I’d say we’re easily a century away from that sort of ambitious mega engineering projects in space that would be post lunar mass driver post asteroidial mass et ceter
Might not be so far off as all that, technologically. Each cable would probably be deployable from a next-gen Starship (the 18m jobbie Musk has mentioned). So long as they’re in solar orbit that doesn’t intersect Earth or Moon, it’d be okay, and the most important ones could be deployed from L1SE. In my book” Acts of Conscience” L1SE is the site of the Stardock industrial facility. I still think that’s a great idea whose time has come. It could be enormous and still not naked eye visible from the Earth because it’d be hidden in the Sun’s glare. My main character is a spatial machinery mechanic there.
Miyake event 10X times worse than 1859 Carrington event
A Warning From the Trees: Miyake Events | Spaceweather.com https://share.google/CHXtVyMBAfDePze2V
Most researchers think it was a solar storm—an extraordinary one. Often, we point to the Carrington Event of 1859 as the worst-case scenario for solar storms. The 774-75 AD storm was at least 10 times stronger; if it happened today, it would floor modern technology. Since Miyake’s initial discovery, she and others have confirmed five more examples (12,450 BC, 7176 BC, 5259 BC,”
That one at 12,450 jumps out.
In retrospect it was almost certain there were other Carrington events possibly many other that occurred in the last 10000 years during the age of human civilization more or less it’s only in the last century give or take that we have any decrudice of electronics that would have given a clear indicator other than things like spectacular Aurora borealis or things that primited people with been amazed by but wouldn’t really have understood what was going on. Is something like that Miyake event happened now it would be enough to plunge us into a dark age probably analogous to the novel and movie series “The Road” it would be sudden without any warning and would pretty much fry all of our electronic civilization cars wouldn’t power plants wouldn’t run etc
Older cars and trucks without electronics (i.e. carbureted cars and glow-plug diesels) and engines with magnetos (like my lawnmower) would probably still work. Some ultralights. Maybe if you’ve got an old rotary engine biplane hanging around… My old riding mower has a magneto, but I never could start it without using the battery-electric starter. It’s an interesting set of problems, though I’ve never written a story about it. My EOW apocalypse story is “Moments of Inertia,” which is too esoteric for most readers. I wouldn’t die right off, except maybe from heart failure drawing water from my well by bucket. Eventually my meds would run out and some months later I’d expire quietly.
There are many antique tractors around that’d probably survive.
I often wonder if these effects are grossly exaggerated. Our geomagnetic field, ionosphere etc. help with high energy rays jostling lose bad charged nuclei within the box . Many computers are housed in grounded metal cases. And most electronics aren’t connected to miles of “antenna” wire.
Even so how many major large megalopolises like New York City or London etc would crash with their power systems down for weeks or months how long do you think it would take for society to degenerate to the sort of barbarism depicted in the road? It’s not just the structural damage to infrastructure like power distribution is how society would react to it if it was for an extended period of time let’s say months, especially if it was completely unexpected and unprepared for
I think that scenario borders on SF. Not particularly good SF either…
Hopefully you’re right I’m not really a dystopian by temperament I’m more of an optimist most likely there would be places where that sort of degeneration might happen for a while but as you stated probably wouldn’t be global Tokyo or some place like that would probably deal with it far more readily than say New York would… On the other hand while the population is far more disciplined well-behaved than ours is I believe Japan is far more dependent on imported food what happens when the power grid goes down ships don’t work etc railways don’t work
Reminds me to inspect the metallic case around my standby generator. Make sure it’s well grounded…
https://share.google/aimode/dotrt5fqqktrm4g2M
Pretty grim prognosis… Only hope would be an aggressive Elon Musk style space program. I’m not talking about hiding on the moon or Mars I’m talking about deploying some sort of thousands of miles long superconducting cables high above the Earth to deflect the incoming solar flare charged particle radiation of that intensity around the Earth. It wouldn’t be an impenetrable force field just something that deflects the beam path so that misses the Earth. I’d say we’re easily a century away from that sort of ambitious mega engineering projects in space that would be post lunar mass driver post asteroidial mass et ceter
Might not be so far off as all that, technologically. Each cable would probably be deployable from a next-gen Starship (the 18m jobbie Musk has mentioned). So long as they’re in solar orbit that doesn’t intersect Earth or Moon, it’d be okay, and the most important ones could be deployed from L1SE. In my book” Acts of Conscience” L1SE is the site of the Stardock industrial facility. I still think that’s a great idea whose time has come. It could be enormous and still not naked eye visible from the Earth because it’d be hidden in the Sun’s glare. My main character is a spatial machinery mechanic there.