Rocks Under I-95 Present Odd, and Scary, Threat to Power Grid
Rocks Under I-95 Present Odd, and Scary, Threat to Power Grid
By
Brian K Sullivan
June 13, 2018, 7:00 AM EDT
Sound far-fetched? Perhaps. But not to scientists. A solar storm is now viewed as enough of a risk in fact that grid operators across North America are working on plans to respond to just such a disturbance. And a draft of a soon-to-be-published U.S. Geological Survey report pinpoints the Eastern Seaboard as one of the areas most in danger.
That’s because this Paleozoic-era rock doesn’t let the energy from a major geomagnetic storm -- a once-in-a-100-years kind of event -- pass through it but instead acts as a backstop that sends the surge back up above the ground for a second shot at causing mayhem.
“It’s an active problem that a lot of people are trying to solve and understand,” said Christopher Balch, space scientist at the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.
Full story at site
Through a stroke of bad luck, the worst of these rocks basically traces the path of I-95 from Richmond, Virginia, to Portland, Maine, passing through Washington, New York and Boston along the way.
Rocks Under I-95 Present Odd, and Scary, Threat to Power Grid
By
Brian K Sullivan
June 13, 2018, 7:00 AM EDT
- Geology under Northeast U.S. could amplify solar storms
- Geomagnetic storm once knocked out Quebec power grid for hours
Sound far-fetched? Perhaps. But not to scientists. A solar storm is now viewed as enough of a risk in fact that grid operators across North America are working on plans to respond to just such a disturbance. And a draft of a soon-to-be-published U.S. Geological Survey report pinpoints the Eastern Seaboard as one of the areas most in danger.
That’s because this Paleozoic-era rock doesn’t let the energy from a major geomagnetic storm -- a once-in-a-100-years kind of event -- pass through it but instead acts as a backstop that sends the surge back up above the ground for a second shot at causing mayhem.
“It’s an active problem that a lot of people are trying to solve and understand,” said Christopher Balch, space scientist at the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.
Full story at site
Through a stroke of bad luck, the worst of these rocks basically traces the path of I-95 from Richmond, Virginia, to Portland, Maine, passing through Washington, New York and Boston along the way.
