Solar Cycle 25 Maximum Anxiety

[yungacox]

is anybody else like… freaking out about this one in particular? based on all of the stuff that i’ve read, there’s a general sense of uneasiness concerning the maximum that’s approaching. is the “big one” finally going to happen? another carrington event even? i’m just freaking out because of course i don’t wanna lose wi-fi and power for who knows how long… i’ve been reading about the solar cycles like crazy. any insight? 😵‍💫

[hamateur 1953]

32 minutes ago, yungacox said:

is anybody else like… freaking out about this one in particular? based on all of the stuff that i’ve read, there’s a general sense of uneasiness concerning the maximum that’s approaching. is the “big one” finally going to happen? another carrington event even? i’m just freaking out because of course i don’t wanna lose wi-fi and power for who knows how long… i’ve been reading about the solar cycles like crazy. any insight? 😵‍💫

Only happier because of increasing background 10.7 cm solar flux.   us hams ( radio amateurs ) look forward to this with each ascending cycle.  I have been chasing aurora for over fifty years also waiting ( and missing) some truly epic displays. Our upper atmosphere keeps us safe from the potentially harmful stuff.  plus since a few surprises have resulted in the “ hardening” of our power grids so read up on real science and have fun would be my respectful advice.  Mike. 

[Philalethes]

37 minutes ago, yungacox said:

is anybody else like… freaking out about this one in particular?

Definitely not me. Why would I? So far it seems to be slightly stronger than predicted, but still overall rather weak.

41 minutes ago, yungacox said:

based on all of the stuff that i’ve read, there’s a general sense of uneasiness concerning the maximum that’s approaching.

Might want to lay off the fearmongering sites and study it more objectively.

41 minutes ago, yungacox said:

is the “big one” finally going to happen?

Very doubtful, there's nothing to indicate this.

41 minutes ago, yungacox said:

another carrington event even?

Extremely doubtful, there's certainly nothing to indicate this either.

42 minutes ago, yungacox said:

i’m just freaking out because of course i don’t wanna lose wi-fi and power for who knows how long…

Wi-Fi should generally be the least of your worries anyway. Power is worse, but even during the 2003 Solar storms outages were extremely limited and quickly fixed, and that was both a much stronger cycle and the strongest event in many decades, possibly even since the Carrington Event. You're probably going to have to wait a fair amount of Solar cycles before something like that happens again, and even longer for something stronger.

Yes, I'll be the first to acknowledge that extreme Solar activity can potentially do damage, but it's highly unlikely that you'll experience any significant adverse effects from any such activity in your lifetime.

[Jesterface23]

Anxiety about a particular cycle would be reading too much into it. For an extreme geomagnetic storm like the Carrington event to happen again, many factors would need to line up perfectly and it may or may not happen during any solar cycle. We'll know if strong solar storms are coming, but we may not even know if a Carrington like event happens until one arrives again.

Edited January 8, 2023 by Jesterface23

[Sam Warfel]

1 hour ago, yungacox said:

is anybody else like… freaking out about this one in particular? based on all of the stuff that i’ve read, there’s a general sense of uneasiness concerning the maximum that’s approaching. is the “big one” finally going to happen? another carrington event even? i’m just freaking out because of course i don’t wanna lose wi-fi and power for who knows how long… i’ve been reading about the solar cycles like crazy. any insight? 😵‍💫

Think about this: idk how old you are, but if you're older than a teenager at the least, you've probably lived through many strong solar flares and CMEs, and probably a few solar maximums, and you most likely didn't even know they were happening!  Unless you like to look for Auroras, really, no storm in living memory could bring about the kind of catastrophic collapse that internet pundits pontificate about!  Fear is one of the most powerful emotions, and a wonderful way to get people to give you likes and views, so some people use it for that.  It doesn't mean it's true.

 

Another red flag, if the "expert" is using tons of technical terms when tweeting or posting on YT to a public audience, it means they are trying to make themselves look smart, which means they are insecure in their position, which means they probably aren't the experts they pretend to be.  They are just sensationalists using taking advantage of people's anxieties about a complicated topic they can't assess themselves, and filling that gap in knowledge with their own overblown predictions to benefit themselves.

If there is ever a storm that poses a real risk to our society, you will not find out about it on Youtube, Twitter, or some internet forum.  It will be in major news sources, referencing the real authorities on the subject like the NOAA SWPC (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center (weather forecasting branch of the US government)), or NASA.

All we have to worry about, now or almost certainly in our lifetimes, is just a good show of Northern Lights!
Maybe go out at night with family or friends, and look for a display of one of the Earth's most enchanting wonders.