2012

[Pilot_51]

I got a forbidden on the link.

Aren't just about all Christians also YEC's?

As much as I want to, I'm not going to respond to the rest since I don't want to fuel the somewhat off-topic debate more than it already has.

Let me just get a simple answer from you and call it done. Do you not believe it is possible that this 2012 solar storm could cause more harm than just electrical interference?

[ShadowMarth]

Yes, it may. But it's doubtful it will be on a large scale, or even a particularly visible scale. So a bit of extra cosmic radiation causes additional genetic mutations perhaps, but really, people aren't going to start dropping dead of sun exposure. Well, except the folks with Melanoma, but that's not exactly new.

As for YECs... what? No. Young Earth Creationists are a crazy bunch who try to prove Religion with Science. That in itself isn't wrong, it's their particular methodologies and unsubstantiated theories, which they defend with fervor in spite of their illogical and obviously false nature. Filling in the blanks with "God Dunnit" has no place in science. I don't get their obsessive need to explain clearly unscientific ideas with science. Science and religion are not mutually exclusive, but they can not be used together without compromising one or the other.

[Wraith]

Wow...this is some crazy stuff...
Wait..if we know about this now.
Why don't we do something about it.
I know we can. We have the technolagy...do we?

[Pilot_51]

I think an underground shelter works, but from the sound of it, it needs to be deeper than a tornado shelter. I think cosmic radiation goes through ground easier than nuclear fallout radiation, so it's possible even nuclear fallout shelters wouldn't provide complete protection.
The big problem would be getting everyone on Earth protected. Suits might make the job easier if they actually protect from cosmic radiation, but I'm not sure if such suits exist that can handle the radiation at high levels. Even then, the radiation would eat away at the atmosphere if it got through the magnetic field, which would probably cause more problems for us.

I'm not sure of the seriousness of the situation. The scientist guy on the radio said his experience makes him so certain that he would probably die of shock if it just blew over like the one in 1958. Aside from that, I haven't heard anything from any other professional sources indicating that it would even be life threatening. Either the guy on the radio is wrong in one way or another or the news guys at NASA or wherever are probably avoiding mass panic by not saying how bad it might be.
I wouldn't completely dismiss it because only one guy says it, I mean that's how NASA gets its accidents. I think more research is needed to get a bigger picture of the situation, but I don't feel like focusing much more attention on such a disturbing thing because it has been making it difficult to think happy thoughts and get work done.

[ShadowMarth]

Radiation "eats away the atmosphere"? I suggest you explain that one, since if you don't have a real logical reason for that one, I will lose respect for you.

[Pilot_51]

Cosmic ray - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Wraith]

Ahh Wikipedia.....

[ShadowMarth]

Cosmic rays have been experimentally determined to be able to produce ultra-small aerosol particles,[11] orders of magnitude smaller than cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Whether this mechanism is relevant to the real atmosphere is unknown; in particular, the steps from this to modulation of cloud formation and thence climate have not been established. The analogy is with the Wilson cloud chamber, however acting on a global scale, where earth's atmosphere acts as the cloud chamber and the cosmic rays catalyze the production of CCN. But unlike a cloud chamber, where the air is carefully purified, the real atmosphere always has many CCN naturally.

In short, that wikipedia page did nothing to suggest that cosmic rays "eat away" at the atmosphere. Because they can't. What do you even mean by "eat away" anyway? Are you suggesting that being hit by cosmic radiation causes the molecules in the air to break down? Well that doesn't really cause anything to be destroyed (conservation of matter and all that), it just changes a minuscule amount of the particles in the air to be made into lighter elements. Certainly you're not suggesting that cosmic radiation causes our atmosphere to leak off into space?

[RealPanda]

Although wiki could be considered unreliable seeing as it can be edited by pretty much anyone and isn't written by a specialist (although it could be).

[Pilot_51]

I meant that the cosmic rays eat away at the livable atmosphere and as a byproduct we get a less livable atmosphere. Normally we're protected from any harmful amounts of radiation and the atmosphere can sustain itself (as livable) against what little it gets. The atmosphere leaking into space is a bit far-fetched.

There was a small Wikipedia debate a couple months back. And no, it wasn't me vs. everyone, it was more like 2 vs. 2. http://www.touchds.com/forums/lounge/4829-research.html