One of the biggest geomagnetic storms on record was the Carrington event of 1859.
But nestled amidst all the usual dangers is the mention of something unexpected solar geomagnetic storms.
FORBES: Intelligence Community Warns Solar Storms Could Collapse Electric Grid
When a massive solar flare erupts on the sun, it can cause geomagnetic storms on the Earth.
It also complements laboratory findings that trout olfactory systems can detect geomagnetic fields.
"I knew there had been a geomagnetic storm but we were only planning to photograph the Milky Way, " Mr Thornley said.
Then there is the mother of all threats to the electrical grid: a naturally occurring phenomenon known as geomagnetic solar events.
In 1989, a relatively modest geomagnetic disturbance collapsed the electric grid in Quebec, depriving millions of users of electricity for several hours.
FORBES: Intelligence Community Warns Solar Storms Could Collapse Electric Grid
The Californians are not the only researchers interested in what is effectively a massive dynamo at the centre of the planet driving the geomagnetic field.
The Geomagnetic pole is the north end of the axis of the geomagnetic field which surrounds the Earth and extends into space as the magnetosphere.
As Holdren and Beddington note, the solar maximum, and increased possibility of a great geomagnetic storm, is fast approaching, now less than a year away.
The largest recorded geomagnetic storm took place in September 1859.
These consequences were explored in a series of simulations conducted by John Kappenman, one of the few authorities on how solar geomagnetic disruptions might upset the current electrical distribution system.
FORBES: Intelligence Community Warns Solar Storms Could Collapse Electric Grid
James J Anderson and Chloe Bracis of the University of Washington say the work supports recent modelling studies showing geomagnetic imprinting is feasible to return salmon to their home river.
The last time a "great geomagnetic storm" unleashed such energy on the earth (thereafter known as a Carrington Event for the British scientist who first detected it) was September 1, 1859.
The sun has spewed out numerous intense spikes of energy over the past week, including several that did hit Earth, producing geomagnetic storms and some of the best aurora displays in years.
Strangely, Holdren and Beddington warn only about the natural EMP threat from a great geomagnetic storm, and ignore the manmade EMP threat posed by a nuclear weapon in the hands of terrorists or rogue states.
Over the next 18 years, the masterpiece was built at a geomagnetic vortex near Landers, California, purportedly drawing from the powers of Giant Rock: an enormous, freestanding boulder thought by Van Tassel to be a centre of UFO activities.
White House Science Advisor John Holdren and Sir John Beddington, Science Advisor to British Prime Minister David Cameron, in a recent joint article "Celestial Storm Warnings" published in the New York Times, warned that a solar flare from the Sun could cause a great geomagnetic storm, with catastrophic consequences for the United States and the world.
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