The Carrington Event was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, peaking on 1–2 September 1859 during solar cycle 10. It created strong auroral displays that were reported globally and caused sparking and even fires in telegraph stations. The geomagnetic storm was most likely the result of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun colliding with Earth’s magnetosphere.
The geomagnetic storm was associated with a very bright solar flare on 1 September 1859. It was observed and recorded independently by British astronomers Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson—the first records of a solar flare. A geomagnetic storm of this magnitude occurring today has the potential to cause widespread electrical disruptions, blackouts, and damage to the electrical power grid.
Another event like this is what keeps me up at night. I haven’t backed up all my files in an external HD in a while and I know I need to do that.
I’d like to think we’ve developed tools that could aid us in somewhat determining most likely future potentials for something similar, but something also tells me we prolly laid off the more prominent scientists necessary for such tasks…
Apologies for stirring fears folks—love the ones you’re with
I didn’t think you’re stirring up fear. You are spreading knowledge and giving people the opportunity to prepare as best they can. Nothing wrong with that.
It’s not just your files, although backing them up is important. If we get hit by another Carrington event it will quite possibly fry a lot of electronics.
I have a very rudimental Faraday Cage setup for this scenario. It’s just a steel bucket with a steel lid that’s lined on the inside with cardboard, and with aluminum foil on the outside to seal off the joins. But if I get notice that such an event is about to hit I’ll be throwing some critical smaller electronics (notable a raspberry pi and a mini monitor), cables, and a mini solar panel+plus inverter into it (along with my backup device) and sealing it up with more aluminum tape.