Sun reawakening 'threatens technology'

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=130055§ionid=3510208



Scientists have expressed concerns about an imminent period of intensified solar activities that is expected to wreak havoc on communication and power systems on Earth.

"The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity," Head of NASA's Heliophysics Division Richard Fisher was quoted by space and astronomy news website SPACE.com as saying.

According to another official at NASA, Lika Guhathakurta, the magnetic field on the sun is expected to get twisted and tense as a result of which powerful electric charges will be sent rocketing toward earth.

The announcement comes as the US National Academy of Sciences issued a report in 2008, saying a major solar flare could cause damages in excess of $2 trillion -- 20 times costlier than Hurricane Katrina.

Threats such as sun storms have prompted scientists to develop space weather forecast systems in order to warn of incoming dangers targeting the Earth.

"I believe we're on the threshold of a new era in which space weather can be as influential in our daily lives as ordinary terrestrial weather," Fisher said.