• Question: Do you think that if a large solar flare occured, all electrical oppliances would go 'off'?

    Asked by mattiosmmm to Adam, Geoff, Rob, Sheila, Suzie on 15 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Adam Tuff

      Adam Tuff answered on 14 Mar 2011:

      Here on Earth we are lucky to be protected by the Earth’s magnetosphere, that prevents nasty particles from getting down to the surface and harming us, so I don’t think there is much danger. However, one big problem is satellites in space – if we see a really big solar flare, some satellites might not be able to take the large amounts of radiation – this may prove to be a problem, and it could mean loss of TV, radio, telephone and comunnications. Only one or two things ever get affected by solar flares on Earth, things like power grids, but only in a few instances.

    • Photo: Sheila Kanani

      Sheila Kanani answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      Great question. This happened in Canada in the 1980s! Luckily it didn’t do too much damage in the long term, but that was because back then we didn’t have as much technology as we do now. If it happened now it would be awful, because so much stuff (internet, banks, hospitals etc) depend on electricity!

    • Photo: Geoff McBride

      Geoff McBride answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      This happened in Canada a few years back parts of the country lost power but it was restored eventually.

    • Photo: Suzie Sheehy

      Suzie Sheehy answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      This really isn’t my area, and I wasn’t aware of what had happened in Canada. I learned something new, thanks!

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