Solar Storms and Crop Circles

AP  NASA

  A friend from the U.K.  forwarded this article to me - unfortunately, the forward did not have credits, so I'm unable to give them.  I recalled my interest in Crop Circles when I read, and some pretty far out speculation I remember hearing about solar storms, and certain crop circles back in 2009.

After attending the Glastonbury Symposium last year, walking in a crop circle myself, and meeting many people who have been involved with research for years, including meeting a woman from Avebury who told me she belonged to a group that used to make crop circles......I just don't know what to think.  I came away agreeing that a great many of the circles are human made, but not all are, and those cannot be explained in any logical way, and also have unique phenomena associated with them.  Whether human made or not, the circles are beautiful, and embody sacred geometry and universal human spiritual symbols.  There is also a very good chance that so many of these circles occur in the ancient sacred landscape of Avebury and Wiltshire because of the electro-magnetic qualities of the area and the underlying water table - some suggest that the circles may energize or affect the land and ground water, "raising the vibration" in some way.   One theory regarding a series of  3 formations in 2009 was that they were predicting solar flares that summer. 

According to  Michael Salla, Ph.D., from his 2009 article (http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_sol22.htm)  3 crop circles predicted solar flares in July of 2009, or may be predicting future solar activity.   "If so" he commented, "this may be the first barrage of CMEs to hit the Earth in Solar Cycle 24. Importantly, scientists will be able to directly study the impacts of large amounts of solar plasma penetrating a breach in the magnetosphere first reported by NASA scientists in December 2008."  
 

 


Here's the article about solar flares:

"Recent reports have warned of an increase in solar activity and subsequently more solar weather. Some scientists have claimed the storms created by eruptions from the sun will cause damage to satellites and communication systems around the world.

The sun has variable magnetic activity going on all the time, sometimes this activity releases in the form of coronal mass ejections (CME) or solar flares, which causes high levels of radiation in space.  Not all CMEs or solar flares head towards to Earth, but if it does it will come in the form of either electromagnetic radiation (including ultraviolet wavelengths or X-rays) or plasma (electrically charged particles). The sun has a cycle during which the star's magnetic field changes polarity form north to south; on average this cycle last just under 11 years. The two extremes of this cycle are known as solar minimum and solar maximum. During the solar minimum there is less activity, fewer solar flares and CMEs, while during the solar maximum there is much more activity.

We are currently emerging from a period of relatively calm solar activity and scientists predict the solar maximum is due to begin in 2013. This means there is expected to be much more solar activity, more radiation and subsequently more solar weather.

What damage can solar weather cause?

The real problem comes when a solar storm hits the Earth's magnetic field. This will cause magnetic storms and power surges that can damage communications satellites, GPS systems and electric power grids. With so many aspects of our life reliant on these systems, scientists believe the damage could prove to be huge.  Helena Lindberg of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency said: "I'm not talking about days or weeks, but several months without electric power, blackouts, across large regions of Europe and the US."

One of the last major solar storms came in March 1989 and caused a massive blackout in Quebec, and since then we have become more dependent on the kind of sensitive electronic technology that can be damaged by solar storms. As a result of the solar flare in February 2011 many airlines re-routed away from the polar regions, over fears their radio communications would not work.

How often is solar weather a problem?

The sun's cycle means that solar storms are not a consistent problem; the cycle also makes it easier for scientists to predict when solar weather should worsen. The sun has had a relatively quiet period recently and the solar flare which erupted in mid-February was the largest in four years.  In May 2009 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that they expected the next solar maximum to occur in May 2013 and scientists warn that we can expect more severe solar weather for a few years once the solar maximum begins. 

Are we prepared for big solar weather events?


The simple answer appears to be no. Many leading scientists have recently spoken about how ill-prepared the planet is for a severe solar storm.  During a recent symposium at the American Association for the Advancement of Science the strongest warning yet about the dangers of space weather were delivered. It was at this event when Sir John Beddington spoke of the global hurricane Katrina and Helena Lindberg talked about long-term blackouts.  Lindberg also said: "To my mind, there are few emergencies today that require such a close cooperation across the Atlantic as that of the geomagnetic storm."

The US and the UK have finally joined forces to look at this issue and a joint statement on the threat of space weather is expected later this month. We are more reliant on GPS and other communications satellites than ever before and if there is mass damage to these devices, or they are disabled by a solar storm, it will have a massive impact.

Should I be worried about this?

There will be an increase in solar activity, which will bring with it more solar weather. The sun's cycle is known and calculated and the solar maximum is expected in 2013.  There is a medical study which claims to show a link between increased solar activity and an increase in strokes; there was also a study in the US which claims those monitored, who were born under a solar maximum, had a slightly shorter average life.  The main danger looks to come from the damage a solar storm could inflict on satellites, GPS and power grids. The largest solar storm on record occurred in 1859 and a slightly smaller storm happened in 1921 and both caused damage to the communication systems of the time."