Global Internet disruptions predicted by NASA & NOAA

JohnR1972JohnR1972
in General

2 days ago (Wednesday, October 16) a joint press release was issued by NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

The Sun is entering the peak of its 11 year solar flare / CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) cycle. This is called the “Solar Maximum” and it is likely to cause massive Internet disruption, GPS disruption, and possibly even power outages around the world over the next several weeks to months.

Nothing to panic about but you may want to review your personal plans for what you would do if the power and / or Internet goes out for a couple days. For instance, ATMs would be down and most grocery stores would be unable to sell anything when the cash registers / scanners are offline. Pro tip: now would be a good time to check the batteries in your flashlights.

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/joint-solar-maximum-announcement-nasa-and-noaa

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Comments

  • CuriousJoyCuriousJoy

    Thanks for that information.

  • TxTomTxTom

    Another Pro tip: confirm your bookings now.

  • BrianOceanBrianOcean

    @JohnR1972
    Great post-
    I heard about this recently but I thought it was only a few days with possible disruptions- so thanks for the update.

    @TxTom
    Deposit or no Deposit-That is the question of the day.

  • wilderdudewilderdude

    Weeks to months? Could be disastrous. NASA does tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to these things so it very well could be nothing.

  • SunsetSnugglesSunsetSnuggles

    Speaking of the sun, I've been able to photograph numerous sunspots on the face of it, due to the insanely thick wildfire smoke in our area. Always a mix of sad, and awe-inducing, nature is...

    ~ Sunset Snuggles

    🫂 Enthusiast 🌄 Travel Junkie 📸 Shutter Bug

  • WestsideMarcWestsideMarc
    edited October 2024

    For decades I have been an MAJOR advocate for emergency food, water and supplies! I myself like wisefoodstorage, but I’m not trying to promote any company specifically so do your own investigation. I also prefer freeze dried food over dehydrated but there are lots of articles online about the differences so research away.

    These packages come in hermetically sealed containers, not unlike a large paint bucket. You will see from the various websites that they offer all types of food - breakfast, lunch, dinner dessert snacks individual water, containers, etc. etc. and they usually have a shelf life of at least 20 to 25 years, they are reasonably priced considering what you get, and you just simply store them in your garage or any cool dry place - then forget about them and hope that you never need…

    I don’t know of a single place that you will be able to purchase food or drinking water if electricity goes out because everything these days is scanned or computerized and there are no cash registers anymore that can ring up anything manually and without power.

    Being prepared like this is super duper important because most people don’t have any emergency food past maybe a dozen cans of food and some pasta. Also, I recommend a little propane type camping burner to boil water because most of these will require boiled water but some you can mix with unboiled to reconstitute, but it’s not quite as good.

    And for once, we don’t need to mention professional fees, cancellations, trolling, transphobia, pictures of your cats and dogs, sunsets, hygiene, boners, boundaries and banning….

    Whoops, just did…..

  • JohnR1972JohnR1972

    @WestsideMarc
    Maybe the grocery stores will still accept Venmo? 😂

    The last time I was in my local Costco they were selling buckets of Readywise 25 year shelf life emergency food. My personal preference is Auguson Farms but like you, I am not pushing any particular brand, just the concept of being able to meet your own needs (and hopefully enough to help a neighbor in need) if the stores are offline for a few days.

    Whether you choose freeze dried or simply dehydrated, you will need access to fresh, clean water to use the emergency food.

  • JohnR1972JohnR1972

    @CuriousJoy @BrianOcean - You are welcome.

    @wilderdude - I agree, they do tend to be very cautious and error on the side of “false alarm” rather than “nah, it’ll be fine” 😂. That is why ai added “nothing to panic about”. This could very easily be a false alarm but you know what they say about stopped clocks. The fact NASA and NOAA did this as a joint press release made me take it a little more serious than just a normal NASA “this might happen” statement.

  • SunsetSnugglesSunsetSnuggles

    @JohnR1972 posted: "you will need access to fresh, clean water to use the emergency food."

    That is something that always made me a bit nervous when we lived in Las Vegas.

    Needless to say, I feel quite secure living beside a giant glacial-fed river in Wyoming, now.

    ~ Sunset Snuggles

    🫂 Enthusiast 🌄 Travel Junkie 📸 Shutter Bug

  • TxTomTxTom

    We're betting on a real house of cards with our society's over reliance on the internet of things and a just in time economy.

    It's all very convenient while the metaphorical sun shines, but if the clouds ever roll in...

  • JohnR1972JohnR1972

    @TxTom

    We're betting on a real house of cards with our society's over reliance on the internet of things and a just in time economy.

    100%. It works great… until it doesn’t.

    @SunsetSnuggles
    The potential disruptions from the solar maximum will likely be relatively brief (couple days) which is still pretty bad for someone living in a high rise apartment without electricity. If anything ever happens where we lose power for much longer than that, a LOT of people will be wishing they live where you do.

  • Mike403Mike403

    Grocery stores can't sell anything without working computers/cash registers? Back in the old days, people used their brain to accept cash and give the appropriate amount of change.

  • justj123justj123

    My favorite time of the 11 year cycle! As long as it's sunny, I have my telescope in the yard. Btw, don't stare or point a telescope at the sun without specialized filters.

  • JohnR1972JohnR1972

    @Mike403 -That was before inventory management systems and automatic reordering were integrated into the point of sale (POS) terminals. Today, even if you have cash and exact change, they don’t want to sell you anything when the power is out because it would mess up their inventory tracking.

    @justj123 - WOW. Those photos are incredible!

  • Mike403Mike403

    @JohnR1972 - If somebody didn't stock up on food, are they going to tell them they have to starve until the power is restored?

  • BrianOceanBrianOcean

    @justj123

    Amazing Pictures.- it looks almost spongy

  • JohnR1972JohnR1972

    @Mike403 - unfortunately in many places the answer is yes. They won’t actually say it, they will just run everyone out of the store, lock it up, and put a sign on the door saying they will reopen when the power comes back on. I’ve seen it happen in Indianapolis. Thankfully the power was only out for a few hours but I was one of the people in the store when it happened and they would not let me pay with cash. I was simply asked to leave and come back when the power came back on.

  • Mike403Mike403

    @John1972 - The power being out for a few hours is one thing. If it's out for days, they have to figure something out.

  • TheFunCartelTheFunCartel

    If everything goes down and everything is turned back 150 years beware of an invasion from Nigeria as the prince who had pleaded endlessly for
    help during the internet era invades our shores with his army and claims his fortune to restore his rightful claim to the Nigerian throne.

  • JohnR1972JohnR1972
    edited October 2024

    @Mike403 - Thankfully I’ve never been in that situation. The refrigerated / frozen items will have a very short shelf life without power. If power stays out for days the store will have to do something - either open up and accept cash or risk having hungry people open the store up by themselves Mad Max / Walking Dead style.

    What most people don’t realize is how little food is in a grocery store at any given time. If trucks quit resupplying stores, there is only a couple days worth of food in the store. That is why I encourage people to have enough emergency food to take care of their family for 2-3 weeks (at least). More if you want to be able to help a neighbor in need. The recent hurricane disaster, even in a land locked state like Tennessee, shows the wisdom of being prepared for emergencies.

  • JohnR1972JohnR1972

    @TheFunCartel - losing contact with all those scammers would be one bright side of a massive technology reset.

  • Mike403Mike403

    @JohnR1972 - I'm sure they'll be prepared and take steps to protect the grid which may mean shutting off the power for a few hours when they detect a solar storm coming at us, but it's better than a long term outage lasting for days or weeks.

  • TxTomTxTom
    edited October 2024

    "We're only four missed meals away from panic."

  • TheFunCartelTheFunCartel

    Time to stock up on bullets. Unfortunately that’s the only currency some of the people outside the city here understand. Fortunately I come from a family of marksmen and I was taught by a cousin who made it to the Olympic trials in skeet about 40 years ago. That’s my preparation for some of these meth head pudwhackers.

    Ever see the movie “Winter’s Bone” with a young Jennifer Lawrence which is set in Missouri? It is based on the experiences of the writer growing up in rural Missouri and it rings very true in areas.

  • TheFunCartelTheFunCartel

    I am jumping on this and writing a horror novel before Stephen King does:

    “Toilet Paper Panic of 2024: Revenge of the Dingleberry”

  • TxTomTxTom

    Great photos, @justj123 .

    I believe those flares visible on the horizon are hundreds of times larger than the Earth.

  • JohnR1972JohnR1972
    edited October 2024

    @TheFunCartel - I refer to that as stocking up on precious metals (brass and lead, and sometimes even lead with steel cores).

  • CuddleDuncanCuddleDuncan Mod

    The last time there was a big one:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event

  • SunsetSnugglesSunsetSnuggles
    edited October 2024

    @JohnR1972
    'Tis beautiful, full of natural resources, and lightly populated with some of the sweetest people this side of Texas...

    But if the zombie apocalypse comes, it'll descend into old-fashioned claim jumpin' and a water rights war. 😆

    ~ Sunset Snuggles

    P.S. Aww, skeet skeet God damn!

    🫂 Enthusiast 🌄 Travel Junkie 📸 Shutter Bug

  • justj123justj123

    Thanks @TxTom. Yeah, those prominences are a lot bigger than the entire earth. An average sunspot is usually about the size of our planet.

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