Solar storms worst case scenario

NASA image shows solar flares can cause colorful auroras

A National Academy of Sciences report last week declared that the next solar maximum (2012), could shut down western civilization for up to 6 months.  That's a respectable organization with a very dire outlook.

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The solar cycle reached it minimum in 2003, and instead of reaching low activity, the solar output went haywire. The group concluded that the expected solar maximum between now and 2015 would result in the worst solar storms in 150 years.  It was 1859, when such solar activity caused telegraph wires to short out in the US and Europe sparking fires.   Today, our reliance on susceptible electronic equipment can lead to catastrophic problems.  With today's political and civil environment, it could lead to a complete disruption of social and economic structure.

I heard a representative on the radio this morning talking about a possible 30 degree shift in the polar axis as well.    There was also relevance to the year 705 BC, with 15 civilizations from the Middle East to China talking about a day the sun went backward in the sky as some gravity force influenced the earth's rotation. This event was also blamed for changes in our calendar.  What used to be a 360 day orbit around the sun, became 365.  That was compensated by leap days and leap years on calendar today.

Sounds like science fiction? If you are still stockpiled for Y2K, then you'll rest easier.  As many of you know, I am not a doomsdayer. Just look at yesterday's story about the arctic sea ice returning to 1979 levels.  However, there is a lot of chatter about the year 2012 something to happen.  The Mayan calendar ends on December 23rd (or 21st- depending on what you read) in that year, and a lot of talk on line has ranged from civil unrest to the solar system crossing the Galactic plain.  Check out the video below from The Horizon Project, a group of scientists that claim to be collecting evidence, cross checking, and cross promoting science from fields that may have not been collaborating in the past.  The goal is to solve puzzles that specialized fields would not be able to on their own.

I should add that the solar storm activity nearly shut down earlier this year.  It could mark a delay in the solar minimum by a few years,  an erratic period in the normally predictable solar cycle, or a sign of the Apocalypse.  You decide.