Space Weather: Could a $3 Trillion Disaster Loom?
By Dr. Marshall Shepherd
Most People are familiar with the “northern lights’ or Aurora Borealis. Heck, they were visible as far south as Georgia recently. As beautiful as they are, that is not why I care about the burgeoning field of “Space Weather.”
Some of the top experts in the world say there is not a question of “if” but when concerning a geomagnetic or solar storm event that could result in losses up to $3 trillion. Significant space weather events, like the one we saw earlier this week (see Link) can disrupt power grids, GPS systems, aviation systems, agricultural activities, communications, and a host of other day-to-day activities.
While space weather touches activities that affect every person’s life, I would be willing to bet that most would think we are talking about planetary storms or clouds on mars. For this reason, we decided to bring in the former director of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center and current UCAR President, Dr. Tom Bogdan. Yep, there is a Space Weather Prediction Center. It is a sister organization to the National Hurricane Center and Storm Prediction Center. They use models, have indices and storm threat levels, and operate in a manner very familiar to weather geeks.
This is a fascinating topic that Weather Geeks viewers will really enjoy. The visual support for this show has a high “geek” factor, and Dr. Bogdan does a nice job of breaking this complex topic down to a level we can all understand. We also explore the technology being used to warn us of these massive storms.
I offer food for thought as I close. I would invite you to reflect on a scenario where we lose a significant portion of the power grid and then consider all of the implications of that…..a major space weather event could make that happen……
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