‘Solar storms’- Ribut Matahari Akan Melanda

Berita dari Yahoo Singapore mengkhabarkan liputan dari Reuters, melapurkan bahawa telah berlaku tiga letupan besar di matahari lewat beberapa hari yang lalu dan dari letupan ini akan mengakibatkan ‘sun storms’ atau ribut matahari yang akan melanda bumi.National Geographic memaklumkan, ribut matahari sedang menggelegak kira-kira 93 juta batu (150 juta kilometer) dari bumi.

Jika bencana ini benar-benar melanda bumi, para saintis mengingatkan kepada para pengguna peralatan satelit, telekominikasi dan elektronik, bahawa mereka akan mendapat gangguan; yang dimaksud gangguan itu ialah segala kuasanya akan terputus.

Perkara sebegini pernah berlaku pada tahun  1859 dan 1989, ribut matahari telah menusnahkan bekalan kuasa di ‘grig-grid’ dan mengakibatkan terputusnya bekalan elektrik.

Sila baca petikan dari Yahoo Singapore@News:

It certainly seems like the world has been under attack lately. Now that “Debtaggedon” is over, Reuters is reporting that there have been three large explosions from the Sun over the past few days, and that “sun storms” are set to hit the Earth. The U.S. government, which is pretty pressed for time as it is right now, is warning “users of satellite, telecommunications and electric equipment to prepare for possible disruptions over the next few days.” Or, as National Geographic informs us: “Storms are brewing about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) away, and if one of them reaches Earth, it could knock out communications, scramble GPS, and leave thousands without power for weeks to months.”

Image courtesy SDO/NASA

The NOAA predicted four extreme solar emissions which could threaten the planet this decade. Similarly, Nasa warned that a peak in the sun’s magnetic energy cycle and the number of sun spots or flares around 2013 could enable extremely high radiation levels.

In 1989, a solar storm took down the power grid in Quebec, Canada, leaving about six million people without power for several hours…

The 1859 solar storm hit telegraph offices around the world and caused a giant aurora visible as far south as the Caribbean Islands. Some telegraph operators reported electric shocks. Papers caught fire. And many telegraph systems continued to send and receive signals even after operators disconnected batteries, NOAA said on its website.