Nearly 160 years since the infamous Carrington Event disrupted the rudimentary technology of the day, solar storms pose an exponentially greater threat to civilization today.
The powerful solar eruption which took place in early September of 1859 saw telegraph communication systems fail and the skies fill with incredible aurora which amazed onlookers.
Fortunately for society at the time, the use of electricity was in its infancy, so the damage wrought by the solar eruption was relatively minimal.
Of course, the same cannot be said for our modern world which would be crippled by a blast similar to the Carrington Event.
Experts suggest that such a storm would decimate our electrical grid, destroy critical communication satellites, and could even spell doom for unfortunate astronauts out in space!
And that would only be the initial effects as widespread chaos would likely erupt as a population plunged into darkness and confusion could react in a dangerous fashion.
While the solar storm that constituted the Carrington Event was observed by the astronomer that supplied its moniker, Richard Carrington was more bewildered by what he witnessed rather than afraid of what was headed towards Earth.
Since then scientists have come to understand the profound danger posed by solar storms and are constantly monitoring the sun for any signs of a future Carrington Event.
However, Earth's electrical infrastructure remains woefully unprepared for a solar storm, leading to the question of whether we would really want to know if a civilization-destroying event was mere hours away even if we can detect it.
On the bright side, should it take decades or centuries for another Carrington Event to hit us, it just may be how humans survive the robot apocalypse.
Coast Insiders can learn more about the dangers posed by solar storms by checking out C2C's Strengthening the Grid Special from 6/8/2015.
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Source: Yahoo