So the UK is safe then...

[JamesF]

...if you believe them:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21357909

James

[Cath]

Wishful thinking, or head in the sand, either works

[JamesF]

Wishful thinking, or head in the sand, either works

I'm inclined to think so. My gut feeling is that so many parts of our "infrastructure" are tangled together now that there could be all sorts of largely unpredicted events that occur as a result of a small number of failures. People take such much technology for granted these days that often it doesn't even enter their brain that at some point it might not work. Then when they get asked about potential risks they never even consider it.

James

[cantab]

I'm inclined to think that people are resilient, even if the technology isn't, and a major solar event would be disruptive but not at all catastrophic.

[Rockrae78]

This country can't even cope when we have snow! The whole travel infrastructure grinds to a halt - and the snow is usually expected, so you'd think that they would be able to prepare for it! If they can't get that right, why on earth should we believe that article...

I think that the last paragraph is rather telling.... More research needed with more bodies than just the RAEng!

[JamesF]

Well, quite. How will people cope if they don't have the opportunity to go on a panic shopping binge first?

James

[SnakeyJ]

Have to share your opinion on this James, our dependance on power and microprocessors runs far deeper than the government would like to admit and there is little or no resilience within power distribution and computer networks. Added to this there just isn't the spare engineer capacity or sufficient stockpiles of spare kit to cope with a major grid outage - limited resilience and capacity is likely to result in a cascade or domino affect as grid struggles to keep up with demand. Beyond the physical damage and cost of repair, the financial costs of a prolonged outage would be catastrophic. Added to this most essential services do not have enough fuel to run the generators for more than 1 day (N+1) and when this runs outs you are looking at significant mortallity, supply shortages and a rapid descent in to hell if things can't be brought back on line in 3+ days.

Sure that this has all been contingency planned/modelled, but not sure that it is taken seriously enough to put in the redundancy and resource.

Fingers crossed then!

[Mezolitik]

Well, quite. How will people cope if they don't have the opportunity to go on a panic shopping binge first?

James

I've already bought 15 loaves of bread in preparation for one or two days of disruption.

[cotterless45]

We can't deal with more than an inch of snow or the wrong type of rain, let alone leaves on the track. I relish the headlines on the next disaster !

Nick.

[Cath]

I'm inclined to think that people are resilient, even if the technology isn't, and a major solar event would be disruptive but not at all catastrophic.

Some people will of coarse be OK, but a lot won't be. Hospitals, hospises, care centres, home heating and many other areas that now totally rely upon on electrical power. Generators will only run for as long as they are supplied with fuel.

The worse bit is .. you'd have to manually move your telescope!

We are in no way prepared for such an outage any more.

[steve_bham]

If the solar flare does strike how are we going to post in SGL!

I think the admin team needs to start planning for this situation

[JamesF]

If the solar flare does strike how are we going to post in SGL!

I think the admin team needs to start planning for this situation

Only for afterwards. Whilst it's happening SGL members will be out viewing the sun by whatever means possible...

Oh. No. Hang on. We'll need somewhere to go to moan about it being cloudy.

James

[SnakeyJ]

The worse bit is .. you'd have to manually move your telescope!

Yeah - just think of all those smug manual dobsonian users gloating

[tigger]

Lets look on the bright side No electricity means only one thing to me-------DARK SKIES bring it on

[Pig]

Cant we just make a big Baader solar film filter ?

Problem solved - Vote Pig for prime Minister

[Extreme Fencer]

Hi Cath do you not use a power tank or similar for your scope.

If all else fails my work genny will be spending more time out the van than in!

[Cath]

Hi Cath do you not use a power tank or similar for your scope.

Yes I use a LiPol 4Amp battery on mine, lasts a couple of nights on that, I've only a got a small 6" scope.

I was only joking by the way .. the last thing I'd be worrying about if we lost our power source would be my scope to be honest.

[Andy McK]

Now you see why learning your setting circles is worth it.....

if in doubt, push it...

All joking aside, I do remember when the tanker drivers went on strike, after 3 days it was 1 loaf and 1 bottle of milk per customer in the local Asda.

After 5 days, there was fighting in the isles over bread.!

The local hospital car park, the cars were having their tanks syphoned out, usually by a bar rammed through the side of the car into the tank,

Save all that messing about with the filler cap.

I forget who said this, but the quote goes "Were only 9 meals from anarchy"

Anyway, were far too over populated. bit of "thinning out" might do us all a bit of good (says the type 1)

[JamesF]

The version of the quote I am familiar with is that "Any society is three square meals from anarchy", but no-one seems to be able to definitively attribute it to anyone, so either could be correct.

James

[Codmate]

I have a friend who is an engineer for one of the big power companies, and he reckons it would take something incredibly spectacular to take down the grid. It's actually a huge power surge when it hits, so all they do is switch on parts of the grid that may not normally be active in order to soak up the energy!

Panic sells papers I guess though.

[Gonzo]

Two tiny snow flakes are able to shut down the country.....

[DaveS]

James Burke had a thing or two to say on that in general.

Anybody remember "The Technology Trap" I think it was on BBC2 a good few years ago, anyway a quick google came up wiht this.

Speeking of which, where would we be without Google? See what I mean?

[hes not well again]

Strange to think that when the Carrington event happened if it hadn't been for the aurora no one would have even noticed. How did we get from that to this without anyone noticing what a knife edge we are riding

[JamesF]

James Burke had a thing or two to say on that in general.

Anybody remember "The Technology Trap" I think it was on BBC2 a good few years ago, anyway a quick google came up wiht this.

I'm currently "borrowing" Starbucks wifi at Longleat Center Parcs, so I'm not going to check the video, but the technology trap was one of the things James Burke talked about in the first programme of the Connections series. In some ways it's very dated now because it was made before computers and mobile phones were commonplace and therefore the world he presents isn't quite the one we live in today, but it's an excellent and thought-provoking programme nonetheless. I'd love to see all of the Connections programmes updated or, failing that, just rebroadcast as is.

James

[jonathan]

It's mainly idiots with the wrong tyres who cause problems on the roads when it snows, unwilling to organise the road clearing with their local community when the gritters are busy on the main roads, that and silly health and safety rules which means they close the schools and such far too early these days.