Image credit: Robert Fornal/Flickr (creative commons license).
Last week’s devasting winter storm brought snow and artic cold to the lower plains. It also heralded a wake-up call for energy security. No sooner had the lights gone out, a great deal of poppycock was written and spoken about the power-grid failure, which left forty people dead and millions without power or potable water, sometimes for days. Fingers pointed in many directions as to the root cause. Some thought green energy was the culprit, others howled about energy deregulation. All this hootenanny obscured the real reasons for the disaster and drew attention from an important lesson for not just Texas but everywhere: that our nation’s power grids need a major overhaul if they are to withstand future shocks.
We face many natural disasters from hurricanes or earthquakes. Although tragic, they are limited in scope. Unlike these and other natural catastrophes that strike a local region in the world, solar storms can produce destruction across entire hemispheres.
Solar storms—or geomagnetic storms as astronomers call them—erupt from solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME), spreading mayhem which our modern technological society is becoming ever more susceptible. These cataclysmic superstorms come from solar eruptions, sending charged particles that play havoc with Earth’s magnetic field. The resulting magnetic flux induces strong electrical currents in long transmission lines, heating them until they fail.
We only need to look back to the Quebec Blackout of ‘89. On Friday, March 10, 1989, solar astronomers detected a powerful explosion on the sun with the energy of thousands of nuclear bombs. Within minutes, tangled magnetic forces belched a billion-ton cloud of gas that shot straight towards Earth at a million miles an hour. On March 13, the ensuing geomagnetic storm created electrical currents through much of North America. They found a weakness in Quebec’s electrical power grid. In less than 2 minutes, the entire Quebec province lost power.
Most solar astrophysicists regard the Carrington Event, a so-called superstorm that occurred in September 1859, as an exemplar for apocalyptic destruction across vast portions of the Earth’s surface. The induced electrical currents caused widespread fires and destroyed the Victorian age version of the internet: the transcontinental telegraph system.
Another solar superstorm seems inevitable in the near future, likely causing extended blackouts, satellite failures, and more. The time horizon for this is comparatively short. Based on earlier such events, a superstorm will probably hit Earth every 100 years.
A recent paper in the journal Space Weather, bears this out. A USGS team reexamined a 1921 solar storm and found its intensity might have exceeded the Carrington Event. The violent geomagnetic levels caused widespread damage to telephone and telegraph systems in New York and brought spectacular aurorae to the night sky.
Such a solar superstorm is the premise of my novel, Mauna Kea Rising. This post-apocalyptic story speculates how modern society might change if we had to endure the loss of the power grid for many months. But this threat isn’t just science fiction. Ask the unfortunate hurricane survivors in Puerto Rico, many of whom hadn’t any power for eighteen months after Hurricane Maria struck.
So, what should we do to prepare for an inevitable solar storm? Improve our infrastructure for one. The three main, interconnected power grids that supply the lower forty-eight sorely need upgrading. Smart grid technology will go a long way to protecting long-distance power lines by isolating them before a solar storm hits the upper atmosphere. We should make the upcoming Infrastructure Week more than a just a collection of failed dreams and inaction by Congress.
We also need continued support for NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) and NASA’s sentinel solar observatories to warn us of solar storms that may head our way. SWPC alerts could allow power utilities to shut down their grids before the storm strikes the Earth, mitigating the worst damage. But if a superstorm hits us—as one nearly did in 2012—the results could be catastrophic, regardless of forewarnings. In that case, have plenty of food and fuel stored on hand for when gas pumps fail and grocery shelves go empty. Oddly enough, residential solar panels may save the day. Their short transmission lines and isolation from the grid could spare them from serious damage. Neighborhood power sharing through microgrids might also survive because their shorter transmission lines do not build up overwhelming current loads.
While another superstorm would undoubtedly wreak havoc, early warning is half the battle for survival. I believe America is up to the challenge. We only need to look at this week’s landing on Mars to prove we can achieve the seemingly impossible. The same mindset that got us there will point the way to a more energy secure future.