The link from N.A.S.A. say around 2010 to 2011 there will be massive solar storms, when i quickly glanced at it i got the impression they weren't telling the whole story, this time frame is very close to the end of the Mayan calender that maybe this is what is going to destroy all like on earth, should i move down to my fallout shelter right now?
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/10mar_stormwarning.htm
2007-10-15 04:58:36 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Ah, is that the reason why NASA wait till 2013 to deploy the JWST because of solar storms? http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/
2007-10-15 06:32:25 · answer #1 · answered by Sandy ♥ - semi retired :) 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
While I ignore the 2012 Mayan calendar hype, I do follow with interest the solar flares (storms) with much interest. Granted, the earth has been around for more than 4 billion years, the real effects of the solar storms has not been realized. Until now. We live in an electronic age. Circuitry is smaller and tighter. My feelings are that if people ignore this, there will be alot of dead electronics all over the globe. You might end up with a dead mother board in you PC. Your iPod will not play anymore. And lastly, all those hospital monitoring equipment.
Plus, how will those storms affect an already weakening earth's magnetic field?
2007-10-15 06:05:51 · answer #2 · answered by Tinman12 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do so many people insist on reading ominous meaning into the end of the Mayan calendar? It doesn't say the world will end, the calendar just stops. All the calendars in my house currently stop on December 31st this year, but I'm not going to panic.
They're not telling the whole story because they don't have a whole story to tell. Predictions are that the next solar maximum will be bigger than the last, but that's as far as they can go. It doesn't mean we're all going to be fried. Solar activity is still not all that predicatble to any degree of precision.
2007-10-15 05:05:08 · answer #3 · answered by Jason T 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
There is NO connection between solar activity and the Mayan calendar. The Mayans were not even aware of sunspots. Their calendar was all about eclipses and the position of Venus.
And the story you linked says that this maximum will be SECOND most active to the historic Solar Max of 1958. So you are worried about something that will not even be as intense as what happened when I was a young child. So just calm down and stop worrying.
2007-10-15 05:18:57 · answer #4 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Planet Earth has been around for around 4.56 Billion years. In all this time there is no evidence that a solar storm of whatever magnitude ever affected the planet greatly. As for the Mayas, there were great builders and astronomers, but most of their predictions about the future were made under the influence of various hallucinogens. Besides, even if they were sober you know that it is imposible to predict the future.
Now there are other things that you can worry about if you want: runaway global warming, asteroid/comet impact, flood volcanism, volcanic supereruptions, hypernova/supernova explosions. All these have been implicated alone or in combination in the last five great mass extinction events.
2007-10-15 05:07:19 · answer #5 · answered by jorge f 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you read the article you will note that "the years ahead could produce a burst of solar activity second only to the historic Solar Max of 1958."
Solar activity goes in cycles - there have been solar storms before and the earth is still there.
2007-10-15 05:09:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The 11-year solar activity cycle is extremely well known, having been followed for centuries. I don't expect the next solar maximum to be much different from the last one, or the one before that. I've now lived through 6 solar cycles, and haven't suffered any ill effects.
2007-10-15 05:50:45 · answer #7 · answered by GeoffG 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not really. According to the Mayans, 12/21/12 is the end of the 3rd Age of humanity. Either the 4th age will begin, or no one will survive. Your bomb shelter won't really do much good, I'm afraid.
2007-10-15 05:03:41 · answer #8 · answered by Quietman40 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the earth is destroyed, what good is your fallout shelter going to be ?
2007-10-15 05:14:58 · answer #9 · answered by TheCheatest902 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
oh, great... just what we need around here... another 2012 end of it all theory..... sunspots this time, eh?... well, why not... the thing is, it will be the electronics that suffer the worst....and life on Earth might be a little different.... but end of the world is a little much....................
2007-10-15 05:09:08 · answer #10 · answered by meanolmaw 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋