Author Matthew Stein Reveals the Real Facts and Concerns About Solar Flares - 'Not a Matter of IF, but When'

TRUCKEE, Calif., Jan. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Solar flares are all over the news as we head towards the next "solar maximum" in 2012/2013. With recent brilliant displays of northern lights, scientists are concerned that this next solar maximum could deal a devastating blow to our electronic power grid and communications systems. Periods of intense solar activity occur once every eleven years when our sun's magnetic poles flip and the sun sends powerful waves of charged particles hurtling towards the earth. Solar maximums have not caused huge problems in the modern world, but with the next one approaching, recent powerful solar flares have scientists concerned that this solar maximum could be a repeat of the great geomagnetic storm of 1921, or worse yet -- the extreme "Carrington Event" of 1859 (view broadcast on History Channel).

"If a super solar storm of such intensity were to strike today, it would massively disrupt modern electronics, wipe out communication satellites, and collapse the electric power grid over much of the industrialized world for months and possibly years," said bestselling author and environmentalist Matthew Stein. "What most people don't realize is that a long-term grid collapse would also start a chain of events leading to a nuclear Armageddon caused by hundreds of simultaneous Fukushima-like nuclear meltdowns occurring in reactors around the world!"

• The last extreme geomagnetic solar storm occurred in 1921, and the largest solar storm on record, the "Carrington Event," occurred just 62 years earlier in 1859.
• These storms were decades before the advent of nuclear power, microelectronics, and the widespread electrical power grid, which are extremely vulnerable to storms of such magnitude.
• According to Stein, "As our nuclear power plants and electric power grid are currently configured, a solar-induced nuclear Armageddon is 100% guaranteed to happen (not "if" but "when")!"
• Stein suggests, "For the price of a single stealth bomber (approx. $2 Billion) we could protect our grid from collapse and our nuclear reactors from catastrophic melt-down."
• Due to lack of understanding the seriousness and breadth of this problem, Congress has failed to pass legislation mandating protective measures to prevent catastrophic grid collapse due to extreme solar flares or a terrorist EMP attack.
• Over 1/3 of all Americans live within 50 miles of a nuclear reactor. If most of the 104 American reactors were to fail, including Indian Point just outside of NYC, it would be the end of America for many generations to come!

Matthew Stein has a BS from MIT and is the bestselling author of When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival. While writing When Disaster Strikes, Stein spent months researching EMP, solar storms, and nuclear issues, including many hours of interviews with top scientists and experts who have urged Stein to take these startling conclusions to the public's attention.

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New article by Matthew Stein: "400 Chernobyls"

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SOURCE Matthew Stein