"The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire." Revelation 16:8 NIV

 

Occasionally the sun has massive eruptions known as coronal mass ejections (CME), especially during its peak activity which happens every 11 years or so. The sun has been on this 11 year cycle, varying from most-active to minimally-active for as long as records have been kept.

 

Most CMEs erupt in a different direction than toward Earth, thankfully; because the damage that can occur is potentially catastrophic. The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that occurs with a CME can, and has, interrupted electrical grid systems in large areas.

 

Micro circuitry in solid-state electronics is especially sensitive to a CME.

 

In 1859, on the morning of September 1st at 11:18, Richard Carrington, a renowned English solar astronomer, was recording sunspot activity during one of the 11 year solar peaks when he saw two very bright flashes form over the sunspots. Five minutes later the two flashes had become pinpoints of light and then disappeared. Never had such an event been witnessed. The following day, just before sunrise, aurora borealis (Northern Lights) could be seen as far south as the Bahamas and Jamaica.

 

Though there were no solid-state electronics in 1859, telegraph systems around the world began to fail and in some cases set the telegraph offices on fire.

 

Can you imagine what would happen today if Earth were to be hit by what is now known as the Carrington Event?

 

The EMP would knock out satellites and GPS systems worldwide and every major and minor power grid would suffer massive transformer failures. This, of course, would mean ATM machines, iPhones and Pads, garage door openers, automobiles, trains and airplanes would be inoperative. Grocery stores would have no freezers to preserve food, water systems would not be able to pump water to our homes and the nights would suddenly become as dark as they were in the 1500s.

 

ON July 31, 2013, The Examiner reported:

 

"The world escaped an EMP catastrophe," said Henry Cooper, who led strategic arms negotiations with the Soviet Union under President Reagan, and who now heads High Frontier, a group pushing for missile defense.

 

"There had been a near miss about two weeks ago, a Carrington-class coronal mass ejection crossed the orbit of the Earth and basically just missed us," said Peter Vincent Pry, who served on the Congressional EMP Threat Commission from 2001-2008. He was referring to the 1859 EMP named after astronomer Richard Carrington that melted telegraph lines in Europe and North America."

 

Former CIA director James Woolsey has demanded that the Administration take steps to protect our national electric grids from EMP, caused either by solar activity or a North Korean EMP bomb. Were the grids to go down due to EMP, they would be down for a long time, months or years.

 

Woolsey complained that while some in Congress seem to be interested, the Administration is giving him the "cold shoulder." Why would that be?

 

The President's plane and our nuclear missiles have been "hardened" to protect against EMP radiation, but electric grids and satellites are particularly vulnerable. I for one would not have wanted to be in a plane two weeks ago had this near-collision been an actual collision instead. Nor would you want to be dependent on your GPS system.

 

Electricity is the world's addictive drug. If the world population was suddenly thrust back to the middle-ages since there would be no light bulbs that operated or refrigerators to keep food cold, it is likely that many wouldn't make it; especially those dependent on electronic medical devices like respirators.

 

In The End The Book: Part Three, though fiction, there is a lot of discussion about this topic that Washington seems to ignore. Here is an excerpt:

 

Part Three: Visions and Dreams, pg 115

Her first solar eclipse at the age of six, looking through the dark, smoked glass had revealed the corona, flaring out from the Sun's surface. It was beautiful and looked like a cosmic engagement ring. She had been hooked on the Sun ever since.

 

"Look at this," she blurted. "The solar surface temp is consistent, except for the area in the left, upper quadrant. That definitely looks like a CME forming. It could be larger than the Carrington Event."

 

"The Carrington Event?" The Admiral murmured.

 

"Yes," she continued. "On September 1, 1859, Richard Carrington, a British astronomer, observed the largest-ever CME heading directly toward Earth. It reached Earth in seventeen hours, which was highly unusual. The journey normally takes about four days.

 

"The ejection was massive, and aurorae could be seen as far south as the Caribbean Islands. The Northern Lights were so bright over the Rockies that gold miners thought it was daybreak and started preparing breakfast. The lights lasted a couple of days.

 

"Though there were no recorded deaths, several workers on telegraph lines suffered severe electrical shocks; and some telegraph offices actually caught on fire."

 

Two weeks ago we dodged a Carrington Event bullet that could have changed all our lives in an instant. The sun is quite extraordinary, and we are totally dependent on the sun working right! If she gets hotter, we get hotter. If she hurls out a massive CME and it hits us, there won't be any going to Disney World. It will be every man and woman for themselves, as grocery stores and hardware stores are raided and gang activity invades our neighborhoods looking for food, not money.

 

There is a silver lining in this rather dismal cloud though. After this change happens that is described throughout the Bible, as one age ends and a new age starts, God has promised to calm the sun down.

 

"Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,' nor any scorching heat." Revelation 7:16 NIV

 

In the meantime, you might want to get an umbrella; and a helmet.