I am glad to see that someone with a bit more influence that I have is worried about the oncoming active solar cycle.
A severe solar storm has the potential to take down telecommunications and power grids, and the country needs to work on being better prepared, said NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Lubchenco is also the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. …
The space weather threat is becoming more dire as our sun ramps up toward its period of solar maximum, predicted for around 2013. Activity on the sun fluctuates on a roughly 11-year cycle, and our star has been relatively dormant for a while.
That’s clearly starting to change, though, as evidenced by a class X solar flare – the strongest kind – that erupted from the sun Feb. 14.
I’ve been worried for years, since I first learned of The Carrington Event. See The Sun is Getting Scary.
By the way, as of this post, The Other Side of the Sun is “Crackling With Flares”.
As always, a tip of the sunhat to SpaceWeather.com
Notes from The Pondonome 
Pingback: Here Comes the Sun | Notes from The Pondonome