The devastating potential of an extreme solar storm and what the White House is doing about it
By Jason Samenow
WashingtonPost.com
Oct. 30, 2015
Weather is not limited to the clouds, wind, extremes of heat and cold and precipitation systems that we experience on Earth. The broiling surface of the sun generates its own weather, or space weather, frequently unleashing waves of plasma that bombard the Earth’s atmosphere.
A principal concern is the following: At some point in our lifetimes, the sun could unleash a dangerous surge of magnetically-charged plasma that could severely damage or destroy critically important electric power systems, satellites, spacecraft and telecommunications.
The White House, realizing that an extreme solar storm could jeopardize the nation’s vitality and security, released a strategy and multi-agency plan on Thursday to prepare for and coordinate responses to the space weather threat.
“The plan was motivated by a recognition that we need a cohesive national network to build resilience [to space weather] and to determine what we need to know,” said Bill Murtagh, assistant director for space weather at White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). “This is a real and present danger, this is a real threat.”
The plan’s development, co-chaired by NOAA, the Department of Homeland Security and OSTP, was the work of members from seven Cabinet-level departments as well as 13 agencies and service branches.
Murtagh said the need for the plan arose over time as government officials as well as constituents from the electric power, telecommunications and emergency management sectors became increasingly aware of the risks posed by space weather.
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