this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2024
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Astronomy

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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 17 points 7 months ago (11 children)

The abundance of back-to-back solar events has led scientists to think the sun may have entered its explosive era of peak activity, known as solar maximum — which seems to be starting a year earlier than previous forecasts predicted. However, researchers will have to wait until the sun "calms down" to know for sure.

What we do know is that X-class flares are most common during solar maximum, which is part of the sun's 11-year solar cycle. So far in 2024, seven X-class flares, including the latest one, have burst from the sun, which is already half the number that reached Earth in 2023, Live Science previously reported.

On a long enough timescale, we're gonna be hit by a big one.

I remember like a decade ago they were saying it hits a developed area, it'll blow out all the transformers, and on that scale no country could replace them all for a very long time.

[–] Australis13@fedia.io 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I agree. There were articles and documentaries about 20 years ago that I remember featuring these sort of events. The continent affected would take 20-30 years to rebuild its electricity grid.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 16 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I'll just never get over how "we" (science I guess) know that stuff like this isn't a question of if, but when.

And we just don't seem to get ready for it.

Like, Y2K we saw coming and everyone handled it in time. But if there's no firm date on something, everyone with the power to do anything just ignores it.

As a society it just feels like we're living paycheck to paycheck. Can't worry about next year cuz rents due in two weeks shit.

It's just not a good way to go about things.

[–] Australis13@fedia.io 12 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

In general, people are appallingly bad at weighing up long-term vs short-term stuff, both in terms of risks and benefits. It's even worse when, as you say, there's no definite deadline or it doesn't directly affect those who can do something about it.

[–] Rolder@reddthat.com 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

“No electricity” definitely sounds like an “everyone” problem lol

[–] deafboy@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

If it's an EVERYONE problem, clearly SOMBODY is doing something, so I can safely ignore it. /s

[–] slazer2au@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

What you didn't see was the guy who made the problem in the 60s warn everyone about it from the 70s onward until his retirement in the 90s, then everyone say oh shit, he is right.

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