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Solar Maximum

Solar sunspots occur in cycles of minimum sunspot activity followed six years later by maximum sunspot activity (see Chapter 6). In 2006, the shift away from solar minimum toward solar maximum occurred. NASA reports that 2012 will be the most intense solar maximum since 1958, when sunspot activity bombarded the earth with enormous amounts of electromagnetic energy, boosting the aurora borealis so far south it was seen in Mexico! Scientists are predicting that the next sunspot cycle will be 30 to 50 percent stronger than the last. A sunspot cycle of this intensity has major consequences in today’s technological society.

Sunspots and Weather

What do hurricanes, tornadoes, and blizzards have to do with sunspots? Well, quite a bit, actually. Large influxes of energy from the sun drive extreme weather patterns. This influx of energy not only makes an incredible display of the Northern Lights, it also creates the La Niña and El Niño jet stream patterns. The result? Super hurricanes like 2005’s Katrina.

Celestial Connection

Sunspots and solar flares dump a lot of energy into the earth’s magnetic atmosphere. The energy is channeled along the lines of the earth’s magnetic field, causing the aurora borealis. The large influx of energy shifts the earth’s magnetic field, which shifts the jet streams, which shifts the ocean currents. The cumulative effects are El Niño and La Niña, which equal big bad storms.

What does this mean in the larger picture? A 50 percent stronger solar cycle could be catastrophic—huge, Katrina-size storms battering the coastline; not just one, but one after another. Imagine it: bridges gone, power supply interrupted, oil refineries destroyed, communities devastated, infrastructures ruined, lives lost. Weather alone could result in the collapse of economies, energy shortages, and massive loss of life. But it would take a lot of different factors coming together all at once for this to happen.

Sunspots and Technology

In 1958, there was very little satellite technology. Compasses, not GPS, were used for direction. Telephones used land lines and no one had a cell phone. Computers were almost exclusive to research or government facilities.

Today the influx of magnetic radiation would have enormous impact on our technology. Electromagnetic interruption of satellites could knock them out of commission for days. This can affect a lot more than GPS systems, cell phones, and the Internet. Magnetic radiation could potentially jeopardize nuclear warhead devices, national warning systems, airplanes, jets, and really all aspects of life. The technological age we live in has its Achilles heel in the electromagnetic flux.

Magnetic Pole Reversal

You probably thought that the magnetic north pole always pointed north. Not so. In fact, it’s always moving a little bit. In addition, the earth is subject to something called “geomagnetic reversal.” This is a change in the orientation of the earth’s magnetic field. North pole becomes south and south pole becomes north.

Magnetic Field Strength

A pole reversal usually follows a decline in the earth’s magnetic field strength. The field strength recovers rapidly after the new orientation has been established. Of course, we don’t really know how rapid the recovery is since the last pole reversal happened 780,000 years ago. But we do know reversals happen; they leave their magnetic imprint in the magnetized volcanic minerals on the ocean floor.

Cosmic Caution

Don’t confuse the magnetic pole reversal with a pole shift. A pole reversal is the reversal of the magnetic field. A pole shift represents movement in the molten lava core of the planet that actually shifts the earth’s axis of rotation. This could happen, for example, after an impact with a large object.

Reading the ocean floor tells us that reversals happen on average every 250,000 years. Many people think we are in for one now. The earth’s magnetic field has undergone a gradual decrease in strength