Solar flare image acts as warning

Published on 10/09/2010 18:08

A SOLAR flare captured this week by Nasa provides evidence of increased activity on the sun's surface. Scientists are warning that the earth could witness an intense period of solar activity in the next few years.

A team led by Mausumi Dikpati of the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in the United States warns: "The next sunspot cycle will be 30 per cent to 50 per cent stronger than the previous one."

If predictions are correct then results could match the previous all-time high recorded as the historic Solar Max in 1958.

Alexei Dmitriev, an astrophysicist, has warned of what experts term the Carrington Effect, which could knock out electrical power and all modern forms of communications worldwide for months on end, even years.

When that happens, some scientists predict global anarchy and mass looting will soon begin as the food chain will become paralysed in modern countries.

Water shortages, they warn, will quickly become a threat to survival because electricity is needed to run the pumps needed to deliver water to homes and offices.