Protecting Against Solar Flares, Electromagnetic Pulse, and Geomagnetic Storms

Lately I have been getting a large amount of inquiries about protecting against Solar Flares, Coronal Mass Ejections (CME’s), Geomagnetic Storms (also called Geomagnetic Induced Currents) and Solar Storms.  In fact it is one of the top searches on Disaster Preparedness Blog for the last year and for good reason, as we are entering the Solar Maximum phase which in most cases causes an increase in solar activity.

I did a few previous articles that explain a bit about what these are and how they have impacted businesses and infrastructure during past events that you can read more about here:

Sun Spots, Solar Flares, and Geomagnetic Induced Currents Can Disrupt Your Business

Coronal Mass Ejection May Cause Disruptions Being Called Solar Tsunami by Some

What exactly is Space Weather and Why you Should Care

Protecting against Solar Flares, CME’s, Geomagnetic Storms, and other related Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) such as an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) or lightening strike is possible and is something I offer to businesses, agencies and organizations through my consulting and services business Continuity Co., LLC.

I have never actually written about anything on protecting against these threats here for a number of reasons, mostly due to the number of myths that exist and often reinforced by bad information around the internet. I have even seen some good information on protecting your equipment called bogus so trying to find the correct information can at times be like navigating a mine field unless you are in the know.

Thanks to a fellow preparedness expert and someone I consider a friend, Arthur T. Bradley Ph.D. consumers and even small businesses can now make preparing and protecting against this kind of threat easier, cost effective, and even worth consideration.

Arthur Bradley recently wrote the book (literally) on just this topic called Emergency Preparedness for EMP Attacks and Solar Storms. In fact, he didn’t just write the book, but he also tested and provides detailed information on methods some of the common and easy protection methods you can use to protect your electronics.

If you are a big business there are additional methods, steps and equipment you can use to give you added protection from these events. However, they are not always as cost effective for smaller businesses or consumers, but the information contained in the book will certainly help you.

Since protecting against these events is an inquiry I do get often If you would like more information on how to protect your business from Solar Flares, EMP's and Geomagnetic Storms please feel free to contact me.

As part of this post I am also giving away ONE (1) autographed copy of Arthur Bradley’s new book Emergency Preparedness for EMP Attacks and Solar Storms. To enter, please leave a comment on why you would find this information useful, what steps if any you have taken in the past to protect against these threats, and why you feel you should get a copy of the book. I will choose a person randomly as the winner. Don’t miss out the book is filled with great tips and useful information you can use to enhance your disaster preparations.

Once the giveaway contest is complete I will do a followup with a few more details on protecting against these events. The contest will run until May 1, 2012 12:00 AM.

What Exactly Is Space Weather and Why You Should Care?

As noted in other recent posts space weather such as solar flares, solar storms and CME's (Coronal Mass Ejections) can have a large impact on our planet, or business operations and daily lives. 

Though space weather can have a big impact, most people are unaware of what it is, or the damage that can occur from it. It is important enough that space weather is monitored 24 hours a day, every day.

Here is a video from NASA explaining a bit about what space weather is and the impact its affects can have.

Here is actual video of the recent fast moving solar flare with CME:

 See the following other post on this topic:

Coronal Mass Ejection May Cause Disruptions, Being Called Solar Tsunami by Some

Sun Spots, Solar Flares, and Geomagnetic Induced Currents Can Disrupt Your Business

Coronal Mass Ejection May Cause Disruptions, Being Called Solar Tsunami by Some

Source SDO

Are you prepared to deal with communications disruptions, power outages and other effects from solar storms? If you haven't yet considered the possibility that your business could be disrupted by such an event, read on.

Four large Coronal Mass Ejection's or CME's occurred on the 1st of August (see August 1, 2010 CME) causing an intense light show when they arrived here on August 2nd. NOAA forecasters are expecting the second cloud to arrive either tonight or tomorrow on August 5th.

While the Sun has been quiet for some time now, two of the four CME's that I am aware of, are being called Solar Tsunami's by the media, were Earth facing and classified as a C-3 and a C-2 in the solar flare classification scale.

Why is this an important event? Because scientists are concerned that the electrical impulses may damage certain parts of our infrastructure such as the power grids, telephone lines and several satellites may also be damaged by the event.

Since I am always looking at emerging events that can disrupt your business, I'd like to point out that I  wrote about this topic last July in the following post: Sun Spots, Solar Flares, and Geomagnetic Induced Currents Can Disrupt Your Business.

Truthfully, these current CMS's shouldn't do anything more than provide a spectacular light show, but disruptions can still occur. The one to watch will be the predicted soalr storm of 2013 if it happenes. We will provide updates to this event as it unfolds if anything important surrounding it occurs.

The estimated time of arrival of the event is list as follows: 

• Wednesday, August 4 – 07:00 UTC
• Wednesday, August 4 – 17:00 UTC
• Thursday, August 5 – 00:00 UTC
• Thursday, August 5 – 06:00 UTC