“The largest solar storm on record is believed to be the so-called ‘Carrington event’ in 1859—an event that reportedly set telegraph machines ablaze and caused auroras borealis so bright that people could read well into the night. Yet there’s speculation that the 2012 CME was likely even more powerful.”

The reason the 2012 event did not have similar effects is that the radiation was not a direct hit on the earth.

‘The Carrington storm and the 2012 event show that extreme space weather events can happen even during a modest solar cycle like the one presently underway,” Baker said. “Rather than wait and pick up the pieces, we ought to take lessons from these events to prepare ourselves for inevitable future solar storms.’” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/11/earth-preparation-solar-storm_n_4414929.html?ir=Science

Topics: astronomy, power, electricity, power supply, solar storms