http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,530275,00.html Tuesday, July 07, 2009 Prolonged Sunspot Drought Ends as New Spots AppearPrior to the low-activity period, astronomers had been predicting that the next peak in solar activity, expected in 2013, might be one of the most active in many decades.
That forecast was recently revised, however, and scientists now expect the next peak to be modest<http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090508-solar-activity-peak-2013.html> . All this matters because, as laid out in a report earlier this year by the National Academy of Sciences, a major solar storm nowadays could cause up to $2 trillion in initial damages<http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090107-space-weather-storms.html>by crippling communications on Earth and fueling chaos among residents and even governments in a scenario that would require four to 10 years for recovery. Such a storm struck in 1859<http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mystery_monday_031027.html>, knocking out telegraph communications and causing those lines to erupt in flames. The world then was not so dependent on electronic communication<http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,530275,00.html#>systems, however. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:300081 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
