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donttread
09-27-2014, 11:01 AM
As most of you know in 1859 a Solar flare dubbed the Carrington Event wiped out over 2/3 of the telegraph systems with wires sometimes simply bursting into flame.
Not long ago a Carrington level solar storm narrowly missed us. In 1859 we had some limited dependence on electronic communications but today we have built a world completely dependent upon these machines. Another will hit, perhaps if we are lucky not in our lifetime. But unlike an asteroid strike or super volcano it will not be thousands or millions of years either.
We have built an entire infrastructure which could be destroyed by a solar storm at any time. How stupid is that?
Another good reason to focus on local economies

Peter1469
09-27-2014, 11:48 AM
A Carrington Event is natural every 100 years or so. We are overdue. North Eastern Canada and parts of the US got hit a while back and power was out for a couple of weeks.

A full Carrington Event (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-solar-flares-sun-storms-earth-danger-carrington-event-science/) would likely lead to power outages for a year or longer.


"Imagine large cities without power for a week, a month, or a year," Baker said. "The losses could be $1 to $2 trillion, and the effects could be felt for years."

This has been studied to death by Congress. (http://www.empcommission.org/) Several years ago the House passed a law to harden our electrical grid. The senate never brought it to the floor (sound familiar).

donttread
09-27-2014, 01:55 PM
A Carrington Event is natural every 100 years or so. We are overdue. North Eastern Canada and parts of the US got hit a while back and power was out for a couple of weeks.

A full Carrington Event (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-solar-flares-sun-storms-earth-danger-carrington-event-science/) would likely lead to power outages for a year or longer.



This has been studied to death by Congress. (http://www.empcommission.org/) Several years ago the House passed a law to harden our electrical grid. The senate never brought it to the floor (sound familiar).

As my son points out a Carrington level event would pretty much destroy our ability to build and transport the replacement parts ( like major transformers)

waltky
03-25-2016, 09:37 PM
Chinese economy faltering...
:huh:
Troubled times ahead for China
Fri, Mar 25, 2016 - The state of China’s economy, and its impact on the country’s social and political stability, continues to figure prominently, even more so in the context of this month’s National People’s Congress (NPC) meeting.


China’s economy has slowed down from its double-digit growth some years ago to just below 7 percent. There are even suggestions that real growth might be much lower, probably as low as half of that. At about 7 percent though, China’s economy is doing much better than most other countries. However, there are serious problems emerging and some of them were acknowledged by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in his annual state-of-the-nation report to the NPC. For instance, talking of the economy in general, Li said in his report that: “Domestically, problems and risks that have been building up over the years are becoming more evident,” and as a result, “downward pressure on the economy is increasing.”

However, he maintained that, with appropriate adjustments, it would be possible for China to achieve an average annual growth rate of 6.5 percent in the next five years. So what are these problems? A major problem is that over the years some crucial industries have built up overcapacity that is weighing down the general economy. For instance, there is now a glut of coal, cement, steel and other industrial commodities. Even as these industries have created high levels of pollution, their profits have declined and some are even losing money. These and other industrial enterprises would need to be overhauled or closed, leading to massive job losses, and it is already happening. As Li said: “We will focus on addressing the overcapacity in the steel, coal and other industries facing difficulties. We will address the issue of ‘zombie enterprises’ proactively, yet prudently, by using measures such as mergers, reorganizations, debt restructurings and bankruptcy liquidations.”

In other words, the economy is set to undergo a severe shake-up and the resultant loss of jobs will no doubt cause social unrest. The legitimacy of China’s political system is largely based on an implied contract between the regime and China’s masses, where its people abide by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) monopoly on power in return for a progressive improvement in their economic conditions. The government is not unaware of the social problems that might arise from the loss of millions of jobs and is setting aside about US$15 billion to support laid-off workers. However, such economic disruptions are never easy and inevitably cause social unrest.

Already, protests are happening in some regions and industries — mining for instance — over job losses and unpaid wages. The scale and management of such unrest will be an important challenge for the political system. The economic turbulence recently experienced by China’s stock market, affecting millions of small investors earlier encouraged by the government to make good money through this seemingly ever-expanding channel, is another example of the general malaise. At the same time, its exports sector, once an important source of economic growth, has slowed down, which has also caused unemployment.

MORE (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2016/03/25/2003642363)