Speedy solar storms carrying a billion tons of charged gas

Speedy solar storms carrying a billion tons of charged gas through space let out a thunderous scream before they unleash satellite-stopping and power grid Outagesradiation storms that slam into Earth's magnetic field.

(Information provided by sources such as Fox News & other sources.)

Be prepared for large power outages can be up from 6 months to years in some cases .

Next solar cycle This finding not only has implications for scientists' understanding of the interaction between the sun and Earth's magnetosphere, but for predicting the effects to Earth during the next peak in the solar cycle.

The Sun operates on an 11-year cycle, alternating between active and quiet periods. We are currently in a quiet period, with few sunspots on the sun's surface and fewer solar flares, though the next cycle of activity has begun. It is expected to peak around 2012, bringing lots of sunspots, flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). CMEs can interact with the Earth's magnetosphere, causing problems for satellites, communications, and power grids.

This upcoming active period now looks like it will be more intense than the previous one, which peaked around 2006, some scientists think. The reason is the changes in the sun's alignment. During the last peak, solar fields hitting the Earth were first anti-aligned then aligned. Anti-aligned fields can energize particles, but in this case, the energy came before the particles themselves, which doesn't create much of a fuss in terms of geomagnetic storms and disruptions.

But the next cycle will see aligned, then anti-aligned fields, in theory amplifying the effects of the storms as they hit. Raeder likens the difference to igniting a gas stove one of two ways: In the first way, the gas is turned on and the stove is lit and you get a flame. In the other way, you let the gas run for awhile, so that when you add the gas you get a much bigger boom. "It should be that we're in for a tough time in the next 11 years," Sibeck said.

All info from Fox news.com See more here