Odd of a huge flare

[Mckinnon]

Hey guys i have a serious question.... what are the odds of haveing a big enough flare to do some serious damage to our power and internet? I am genuinely curious and hopeing noone goes on about fear mongering when i am only looking for serious answers not conspiracy theories. Thanks guys and gals !

[Solarflaretracker200]

Chance of a carrington event you mean?

[Sam Warfel]

Because anything less than a Carrington event wouldn’t be able to do serious damage, our power grids etc. are designed to handle it. 

[Archmonoth]

45 minutes ago, Mckinnon said:

Hey guys i have a serious question.... what are the odds of haveing a big enough flare to do some serious damage to our power and internet? I am genuinely curious and hopeing noone goes on about fear mongering when i am only looking for serious answers not conspiracy theories. Thanks guys and gals !

Odds are based on completeness of knowledge. We don't know what we don't know.

Based on frequency of recorded events, the odds are low. As others have said, it takes a big event to disrupt, since Earth is far away and has many physical systems like the Magnetosphere to protect us. This protection extends out from the Earth, and provides shelter from solar wind, flares, and mass ejections. Magnetosphere - Wikipedia

 

[Solarflaretracker200]

1 hour ago, Mckinnon said:

Hey guys i have a serious question.... what are the odds of haveing a big enough flare to do some serious damage to our power and internet? I am genuinely curious and hopeing noone goes on about fear mongering when i am only looking for serious answers not conspiracy theories. Thanks guys and gals !

The only thing that could harm Earth is a Carrington Event as others have said. Which was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, happening on 1–2 September 1859 during solar cycle 10. I think a X76 solar flare would even do nothing to us. But don't worry a Carrington Event happens once every 500 years or so. The last time a Carrington like event happened was around 2001 if I am not wrong. 

So yeah nothing to worry about 

[Mckinnon]

Thanks ! I appreciate the honest answers

[Christopher S.]

9 hours ago, Mckinnon said:

Hey guys i have a serious question.... what are the odds of haveing a big enough flare to do some serious damage to our power and internet? I am genuinely curious and hopeing noone goes on about fear mongering when i am only looking for serious answers not conspiracy theories. Thanks guys and gals !

Hey, nice to see you here again. Everybody did a good job answering your question.

There is the concept of "damage" I want to talk about:

Damage is pretty loosely defined as tentative degradation of something. So, yeah, any flare has the ability to make your internet act weird. As far as doing irreparable damage goes, no flare is capable of that.

We are the strongest organism that we know of, when it comes to overcoming life's challenges. A little weirdness in the electric circuitry around the planet is incapable of ruining your day unless you let it.