Scientists predict solar megastorm by 2014!

BOULDER, Colorado - March 2, 2012 - There is a one in eight chance of a solar “megastorm” before 2014, according to a Kalifornian scientist - and other space weather experts agree that Earth is facing a burst of violent activity that will peak within two years.

It's unknown what effects this could have on our planet, but scientists have analyzed the worst recorded solar event in history, 1859's Carrington Event, and worked out what effects a similar event would have now.

In our connected, satellite-reliant electronic age, they say the effects would be devastating, as it would disrupt global communications and take out power sources, and could cause up to $2 trillion of damage.

They fear the sun could could now be entering a two-year “hurricane season” of solar storms; the star flared violently on Valentine's Day this year.

“We live in a cyber cocoon enveloping the Earth. Imagine what the consequences might be,” Daniel Baker, of the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics told National Geographic when asked about a potential “megastorm”.

“Every time you purchase a gallon of gas with your credit card, that's a satellite transaction. Imagine large cities without power for a week, a month, or a year. The losses could be 1-2 trillion dollars, and the effects could be felt for years,” said Baker.

The sun has a storm cycle of around 12 years, known as a solar maximum, and as this period draws to a close it generally peaks with a series of intense storms.

The sun's last solar maximum was in 2000, so it should happen in the next year or two.

It could be these storms rival the infamous Carrington Event of more than 150 years ago, when telegraph stations caught fire and their networks suffered massive blackouts.

“The sun has an activity cycle, much like hurricane season. It's been hibernating for four or five years, not doing much of anything,” said Tom Bogdan, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.

“Now the sun is waking up. The individual events could be very powerful,” he added.

During the Carrington Event the northern lights were seen as far south as the Caribbean, while in Amerika you could read a newspaper just from the light of the aurora.