Scientist urges ‘to take risk of a global Katrina seriously’
By ANIMonday, February 28, 2011
LONDON - A Brit top scientist has urged that the risk of a devastating space storm wreaking havoc like a ‘global Katrina’ and costing the world trillions of pounds should be taken ’seriously’.
Sir John Beddington, the Government’s chief scientist, said that the Sun was waking up from a quiet period and was likely to throw a lot more ’space weather’ at the Earth.
Also, the world was increasingly vulnerable to damage because of our dependence on satellites, communication networks and computer devices.
If a solar storm hit the Earth, it could throw out navigation systems, crash stock markets, ground aircraft and cause power cuts.
“What is critical is that we take space weather seriously,” the Telegraph quoted Beddington, speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Washington.
“We’ve had a relatively quiet period of space weather. We can’t expect that to continue.
“The potential vulnerability of our systems has increased dramatically, whether it is the smart grid in our electricity systems or the use of GPS in just about everything we use these days,” added Beddington. (ANI)
