There has been a lot of hype about our world ending on 21st December 2012 because they say the Mayan calendar will end its cycle on that day, which literally means the end of our existence. Some people believe that a planet (Nibiru or Planet X) will pass by earth, so near that it will affect our planet’s gravitational field which may cause polar shifts consequently resulting catastrophic events including 8-mile-height floods wiping everything out. However, there have been a lot of debates about this, one side disproving the other. But one thing is for sure, a huge solar storm is on its way which will affect every electronic device including GPS, power grids, telecommunication satellites, mobile phones, computers, hospital equipment, among other things.
The huge solar storm will happen when the sun starts its new solar cycle which always begins with a high latitude, reversed polarity sunspot. In December 2007, according to United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the new solar cycle (24) will be big and intense peaking in 2011 or 2012.[1]
In June 8, 2010, Washington DC held a meeting to make preparations for such event. According to Richard Fisher, head of NASA’s Heliophysics Division, "The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity. At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms.”
The National Academy of Sciences framed the problem few years ago in a landmark report entitled "Severe Space Weather Events—Societal and Economic Impacts." It noted how people of the 21st-century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. Smart power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity. A century-class solar storm, the Academy warned, could cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.[2]
Just recently, Dr. Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist, has reiterated on live television on how unprepared we are and the dangers of the ‘monster tsunami from the sun’ which will happen soon. You can view the Fox News segment from this link.
There has been not much commotion about the upcoming event which I would understand because it will literally cause panic to everyone. Imagine the (economic) effects even if the solar storm has not come yet. However, all the information I have gathered here are from reliable sources, including that from NASA. So, I guess we can not just ignore this. By the way, just come to think of it. Why would our governments invest in a global seed bank (Svalbard Global Seed Vault)? Are they preparing for something big? They say that ‘the seed vault is an attempt to provide insurance against the loss of seeds in genebanks, as well as a refuge for seeds in the case of large-scale regional or global crises.’[3]
Interestingly enough, a Mayan elder on youtube talked about the ‘end of cycle’ which happens on the 21 December 2012. He said that something will change in the sun during that time and a new cycle begins. This information has been traditionally passed down from one generation to the other, but seems to coincide with what NASA has been talking about or discovered. Coincidence? You be the judge. You can view the video from this link.
As one newscaster said, this might just be another Y2K event when people invested so much but actually didn’t do any harm. Let us just hope that it is. But it is better to be prepared than sorry.
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