Safest place to be in a massive solar storm?

If a massive solar flare or CME hit the Earth obviously the loss of our power grid would be one of our biggest concerns. My question is this, since the magnetic field should disperse the particles to the magnetic poles (hence the aurora extending further), will cities nearer the north and south magnetic poles be more vulnerable? For instance Canada lost power during a solar storm in 1989, is this because of it's proximity to the North magnetic pole? Would cities nearer the equator be at less risk of power failure from these solar storms? I could not find much information online of how wide spread or distributed the damage to the power grid might be. It seems to me the closer you are to the equator the less risk of power grid failure there is. Any insights?

You can try Mars, But I hear it is pretty cold out there

I would still think the cities on the equator would still get damage, if it is a huge solar storm

[edit on 31-8-2010 by Maddogkull]

Aurora's are the visual representation of the sun's effect on our ionosphere. People and things up north are not affected by auroras.
CME's are nothing to worry about, massive x-ray flares... those are the ones to watch out for.

[edit on 31-8-2010 by brutalsun]

Your best bet is to be away from ANY city. The problem with these storms isn't so much the storm itself as the chaos it will cause in the populations on earth that no longer have any electrical grids or means of communication.

But why go on when the IT crowd can explain it all...

www.youtube.com...

Originally posted by b309302
My question is this, since the magnetic field should disperse the particles to the magnetic poles (hence the aurora extending further), will cities nearer the north and south magnetic poles be more vulnerable? For instance Canada lost power during a solar storm in 1989, is this because of it's proximity to the North magnetic pole? Would cities nearer the equator be at less risk of power failure from these solar storms? I could not find much information online of how wide spread or distributed the damage to the power grid might be. It seems to me the closer you are to the equator the less risk of power grid failure there is. Any insights?

And you would be correct in that assumption.

The solar storm disturbs the magnetic field.

The magnetic lines of force cut through at the top and bottom of the planet.
Voltage is generated when magnetic lines of force move through a conductor.

When the storm moves the field around, it moves through the electrical lines at the north and south poles.. That movement of magnetic lines through the electrical lines causes current/voltage to be induced in them.

As the storm gets worse, the magnetic field gets more mangled and the affects move closer to the equator.

The affects at the poles is always worse than at the equator.

This may help...

www.aerogel.com...

reply to post by Mr Tranny


Thank you, that was very informative and helpful.

If all this comes with a polar shift, who knows where it would be the best place to be at that moment.

I agree with those ones who believe the worst problem will be the people itself. This kind of event probably will last weeks or months and many will start storing food, water and medicines very soon this year. I already started.....you never know. Maybe nothing happens in the sky, but by the time we find out, most of the cities will be on fire and vandalized.

After a couple of weeks, you won't be able to cook at home even if you have the food. Any smell of food or smoke coming up from a fire you'll use for cooking or heat, will atract others.

Hunting, fishing or grow your own veggies will be out of order, not even think about it. Maybe mushrooms might grow since they don't need light.

Dry food and anything you don't need to heat are the best option.

Discuss a plan with your family, include the kids and put in your mind that this can happen without warning and you may not be at home at that moment, kids could be at school. Everybody must know what to do in order to regroup.

Iknow......it's scary.

Nah, you guys are all way off base.

THE best place to be is in a lead-lined deep underground bunker that is protected internally and externally by hand-picked & heavily armed Marine platoons, is staffed with highly trained medical personnel, supported by three-ton spring shock absorbers, has hi-tech air purification systems, a ten-year supply of food, its own internal power source, and is built inside of a huge Faraday cage.

Sadly, none of the slots in these facilities are available to any of you or me.

reply to post by Maddogkull


Unfortunately Mars' magnetosphere has been blown away by solar and cosmic particles a long time ago, so in fact Mars is one of the more dangerous places to be during a large solar storm.

for sure undrground caverne or bunker because everithing on the surface will toast its official....