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

Photo by NASA SOHO

After a long absence, our Sun once again has sun spots which are currently giving off moderate solar flares. This current cycle known as Sun Cycle 24 was predicted to start around 2013, and was also predicted to produce moderate solar flares.

Why are we writing about solar flares and solar storms here on Disaster Preparedness Blog?

Because there have been major events in the past where these storms (also referred to as, solar tempest, Geomagnetic storms, Geomagnetic Induced Currents - GIC, Coronal Mass Ejections - CME's, among others,to learn more please refer to our references) have caused outages to communications equipment.

One of the most notable is the events of September 1st 1859, in which telegraph lines were completely burned up leaving only ashes behind on the ground.

While there have been other events, such as the GIC induced blackout in Quebec, Canada which occurred in March 1989, and in 2003 over 20,000 people in Sweden lost power, and two Japanese satellites were disabled.

Also, in 1994 a Canadian telecommunications Satellite was disabled and it took six months and approximately $70 million to repair. These are not the only events which have occured due to these storms, but are some of the most notable.

A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) titled: Severe Space Weather Events - Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report (which can be viewed at the link) highlights our vulnerabilities and suggests that should the events of August  28th through September 2nd 1859 occur today the estimated dollar value of the damage caused would be around $2 trillion (for the first year) and would cause a cascade of failures which would take from 4 - 10 years to repair.

If this should occur, communications lines, and technology would be severely impacted. Even satellite communications would most likely be sporadic, if not completely disrupted as well.

This event would nearly instantly set the United States as well as other locations around the globe back to pre-telegraph days and reliable communications with customers and clients would be severely impacted.

For businesses the only viable forms of communications for such an event would be to rely on traditional mail and courier services, and some communications through hand-held radios or HAM radios may be possible if these systems were protected.

The United States is entirely unprepared for such an event, and the impact would have long term devastating effects on critical infrastructure and private sectors alike. 

Having a plan in place now can help you keep your business going, don't wait till it's too late!

With 81 Healthcare Workers Infected With H1N1, Are Hospitals Doing Enough To Curb The Spread?

With the number of healthcare workers in the United States becoming infected with novel Influenza A (H1N1) reaches at least 81, we are left with the question Are hospitals doing enough to protect against the spread of the H1N1 virus?

While I cannot speak for each healthcare facility individually, I would have to say with the information in the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) the answer is a resounding no. Half of the 48 included in the study were found to have been infected in the heatlhcare setting and include one possible case of a heathcare worker infecting another. The report also has found 11 cases deemed to be patient to healthcare worker transmission.

According to the report, only two of the persons included in the study indicated that they always wore surgical masks (inadequate protection) and only 1 indicated that they wore an N95 respirator mask. Two others indicate they wore masks sometimes.

In the healthcare setting it is important to identify patients with swine flu or H1N1 early, or as Dr. Michael Bell of the CDC's Center for Preparedness, Detection and Control of Infectious Diseases puts it these patients, "need to be identified at the front door" of the hospital so that personnel will know they need to take preventive measures, such as wearing masks, isolating the patients and paying particular attention to hand hygiene.

He also stated "absolutely essential that healthcare personnel be vaccinated annually, for their own protection and to protect patients in hospitals."

It is also important that healthcare workers remain informed and take proper PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) precautions.

I've also come to discover at one location where a confirmed H1N1 case was being taking care of, that healthcare attendance within the unit dropped 25% at that particular facility.

This may be attributed to a lack of educational awareness, a lack in PPE equipment, a lack of adequate hospital preparedness measures or a combination of the three. Of course the argument can be made that it was coincidence, or the workers were actually ill, but this is most likely not the case.

While it is impossible to 100% completly stop the spread of the H1N1 virus or any other such disease, there are steps that can be taken to prevent and reduce the spread.

Healthcare facilities need to ensure that proper education of employees is taking place and that these procedures are being followed. They also must ensure that proper and timely screenings are being done as potential patients are entering the hospital or other healthcare setting to help reduce the spread.

Experts Divided On Treatment of Birdflu (H5N1)

Some researchers in Thailand are saying that H5N1, also refered to as birdflu or avainflu should be treated with higer doses of Tamiflu.

However United States based researchers are saying that this will result in the virus becoming resistant to Tamiflu instead.

From Reuters article:

The H5N1 has infected 433 people around the world since 2003, killing 262 of them, according to the latest tally by the World Health Organisation. The WHO recommends treating patients with Roche AG's (ROG.VX) Tamiflu at a dose of 75 mg twice daily for five days.

Al-Qaeda Declares It Will Use Pakistan’s Nukes To Strike Unites States

Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, the top Al-Qaesa leader in Afghanistan has declared that Al-Qaeda will use Partisan's nuclear weapons against the United States during an interview with al-Jazeera television.

In a statement during the interview he directly said, "God willing, the nuclear weapons will not fall into the hands of the Americans and the Mujahideen would take them and use them against the Americans."

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari maintains that his country has a strong command-and-control system for its nuclear weapons and has ruled out the possibility that their nuclear weapons might fall into militant hands.

However, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid believes that pro-Taliban forces can overpower the Pakistani military in thein the northwestern areas and get hold of the nuclear weapons. He went on to say,"We expect that the Pakistani army would be defeated (in Swat) ... and that would be its end everywhere, God willing."

During an April interview with Fox News, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said the US was worried about the "unthinkable" in Pakistan -- that the Taliban and al-Qaeda could topple the government, and get their hands on "the keys to nuclear arsenal."

I've been warning about this issue for a while now, see these posts:

Pakistans President Announces Nukes May Fall Into Terrorist Hands

Taliban May Already Hold Some Key Nuke Sites In Pakistan

Pakistan Near Collapse, Nukes Will Fall Into Terrorist Hands

National Guard Drill Last Week In Des Moines, Iowa

National Guard units from three States Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska along with 500 members of other emergency response agencies took part in a a large scale drill last week.

The exercise was called vigilant Guard 2009, and included a simulated train wreak and about 166 Iowans took part in the drill playing injured and dead victims.