maybe this will help explain?



http://science.nasa.gov/science-news...10/04jun_swef/

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news...10/04jun_swef/

As the Sun Awakens, NASA Keeps a Wary Eye on Space Weather
NASA Science News


Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division, explains what it's
all about:

"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 intersection of these two issues is what we're getting
together to discuss."

The National Academy of Sciences framed the problem two 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.

Much of the damage can be mitigated if managers know a storm is coming.
Putting satellites in 'safe mode' and disconnecting transformers can
protect these assets from damaging electrical surges. Preventative
action, however, requires accurate forecasting - a job that has been
assigned to NOAA.

"Space weather forecasting is still in its infancy, but we're making
rapid progress," says Thomas Bogdan, director of NOAA's Space Weather
Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.

....

For more information about the meeting, please visit the Space Weather
Enterprise Forum home page at http://www.nswp.gov/swef/swef_2010.html.

Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA