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I read the article with interest and while somewhat sensationalised the basic fact is that during the 89 storm huge portions of the canadian national grid were literally burnt out.
The GIC can read many 100,000 of amps and the induced current literally burns out transformers, switches and relay equipment. The pictures from 89 were horrific with building sized transformers literally burnt out.
The damage done in 89 was nasty .. "but" ... these undulating currents take hours ... its not like EMP from a nuclear detonation ... so thats rather sensational!
What did happen in Quebec, sweden and N USA was power grid cascade failures where a dominoe effect ripples across the grids as power failures overload the next transformer already suffering down stream which then trips or fails in the same way.
The fact is that no matter what the power companies try they have 1000`s of km of wire up in the that induces overloads - the same for pipelines too - they do have protective planning and equipment to short the currents but the 89 event literally swamped them.
These are not usual events though and have happened many times in history as far back as 1859 when telegraph wires of the first communications networks were damaged. What is now the worry is the more technologically advanced we become the more we place ourselfs at risk. in 89 the internet hardly existed ... the next solar max we may not be quite so lucky with the billions of dollars of hardware that route our telecoms around the globe!
I should also add that it takes around 18 hours for the first waves of the CME to make it to earth and some hours for these currents to build up - the lights dont go off 90 secs after the CME occurs!
And its not only ground based power systems they worry about, numerous satellites were destroyed in the event and similar events have caused much damage over the years.
damage comes from both destruction of the silicion junctions in the chips (memory is partic affected) causing component failure but also "bit flipping" where transistor junction states flip from 0 to 1 or v-v, this can cause software failures and system failures hence the worry about nuclear power stations (or in fact any computer controlled facilities)
particle charges also build on and between the space frame and can short arc to the internal structure also causing failures of the satellite.
So I agree that the article is somewhat sensationalised but has a lot of fact behind it ... 90secs not from the CME event but 18 hours after and maybe 90 secs AFTER the grid starts tripping .... in a country that suffers -40c in the middle of a bad winter this could be nasty !
South Island NZ is alittle more mid lat so although would probably see the aurora Im not sure that it would suffer the same destruction given the much smaller distances of power cables ie 100,s of km not 1000s
btw you might as well hang garlic over your pc as hang it off a surge protector, the particles would need strong shielding hence why the ISS /skylab crews hid in a lead lined room! The surge protector may help if the power spikes as it drops off ... !
On an interesting side note I was at sea on a submarine in 89 ... the warning of navigation disruptions came early but I saw as much as 15 degree compass swings as the CME charged through .. now think with the reliance on GPS that we didnt have then......!!!! Radio blackouts also disrupted DECCA and LORAN systems too ... back then it was back to good old dead reckoning !
:-)
I would not be so quick to pooh pooh the article .. while some what sensational journalism the impact on power and satellites, navigation and comms systems might trigger something much more than loss of power for a couple hours .. and the economic damage these companies had to face were huge .. in the current climate that may not help either!!!
rgds
Simon ZL4PLM
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