GIC- ground induced

current

Ground induced current is a current induced on the ground from the fluctuations in the earth’s magnetosphere over conductors on the ground.  Long, low resistence conductors such as high voltage transmission lines are particularly susceptible to this affect.   This induced current comes in the form of surges of DC, which is incompatible with with nearly all power infrastructure today.  For example, a big enough surge of DC current will melt the windings in transformers used across the grid rendering them inoperable. In the event a power transmission substation is taken offline, the power being routed through it is routed through others.  If these stations are close to capacity, they can be overloaded and shut down, which in turn can have a cascading of stations failing.   The most recent example of a solar event causing major damage to modern infrastructure was in 1989 in Quebec when GIC over high voltage AC transmission lines left 6 million people without power.   

Communications infrastructure

The communications network of today is considerably more developed than in 1859.  All wireless technologies rely on electromagnetic radiation of some sort to transmit information, which would be totally disrupted if a large enough solar event were to occur.  Orbitting satelites could even be disabled if a large enough storm were to happen.

Frequency of solar events

Solar activity or ‘weather’ never stops, but typically follows an 11 year cycle.  A Carrington event is a 1-500 year event.

Price tag

If an event of the same magnitude were to happen today, it is estimated that it could cause many trillions in damage to infrastucture.  It could even be much more, considering the current configuration of our power systems.