What is a Solar Flare & How to Survive 2012

Today the news is a buzz with reports about a solar flare coming to earth. At the time of writing this it hasn't happened but check out some news links to find out more In USA today

Also read more at SpaceWeather.com

Once you have read about it, read this lens to learn how to prepare!

Solar Flares occur when the sun releases large amounts of energy into space that break away from the continual combustion cycle of the sun. Huge waves of electrons, ions and atoms are released during this burst of energy, which then go flying off into space. If the solar flare is aligned and aimed in the direction of the earth, it can reach the earth's surface in a day or two.

The effect this has on the electromagnetic spectrum is quite profound. Electrical systems can overload and complete systems can disintegrate. The effect of a solar flare is the same as an EMP (electro magnetic pulse) and causes all electrical systems to overpower and collapse. For today's society that means cars, planes, computers and even your phone would fail to work. The internet in an instance could cease to exist and all information stored digitally on any medium would be destroyed. The stock market wouldn't crash, it would be wiped clean along with most other digitalised systems of today. The very systems and safeguards that structure today's society would be destroyed.

Society would be thrown back beyond the dark ages. Today's modern person with their reliance on digital and electrical products would struggle to even survive. Where would you get food if nothing was ever delivered to the supermarket again? Where would you go for medical and how would you structure society?

This lens will help you understand what you must do in order to survive the worst case scenario of a solar flare knocking out civil society as we know it.

Solar Flares are not a new occurrence. They have been occurring since the beginning of the sun itself. While most solar flares cause little effect due to the small magnitude of them, there have been notable ones that caused massive chaos.

The most notable of them occurred in 1859 when on September 1 a solar flare was observed by astronomers. This solar flare caused a massive magnetic storm around the world with auroral lights observed all over the world, even as far as the Caribbean. The most notable factor about the effects of this solar flare was that it took down the telegraph system over Europe and North America. Relays exploded in showers of sparks, operators were electrocuted and it was also reported that systems disconnected from power still transmitted.
Were this to occur today, the majority of our electrical infrastructure would be destroyed, resulting in a technical dark age.

The occurrence of solar flares in history has been sporadic with no way of predicting when they will happen or if they will effect earth. There however is methods that determine when solar flares will be more probable. To quickly summarise, the solar system moves on a 5000 year cycle throughout our universe. Mid way through this cycle (2012) we will be located in the middle of the universe where our solar system is under the most magnetic pull from the greater universe, which has been determined to effect the probability of solar flares occurring. In addition to this there is the effect of the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter, which in 2012 will be at the point where they provide the greatest gravitational influence internal to our solar system.

The next section will explain how to survive in the event of a solar flare wiping out technology.

The first part in survival is to out-think everyone else. In the military they teach a decision cycle, and in essence it is about making decisions faster that your opponent. In order to best survive you must act quick.

The first step is preparation pre-solar flare. Those who prepare are already a few decision cycles ahead of their opponent and will set themselves up for success. I also want to make the point that in this scenario, the term opponents can mean anyone. However you don't want to think of everyone as opponents as a vital part of survival in this scenario is networking and building a community from scratch.
In terms of preparation the main areas you want to have covered are as follows:

1. Meeting points- You must pre-arrange with friends and family where to meet in the event of a solar flare.Set a reasonable time for people to get there, remembering the only means of transport are non-electrical. The time should be no more than 24 hours to ensure you maintain decision making momentum. After 24 hours you cannot afford to wait for more people and must more on to the next stage. Secondary after 24 hour rendezvous however can be organised. Make the meeting point central to everyone, however near to Hardware stores are recommended as they will fit into the next steps.

2. Establish Caches- Set up caches you can easily access and that wont be found easily. In these you want to include long life food, tools for construction, gardening and defending. These will be essential in a post solar flare world as you will need to become self sufficient.

3. LEARN- Educate yourself on basic survival. Learn how to make fires, grow food and repair houses and general equipment. You wont be able to look these up on the internet after a solar flare so best you learn before.

The second step is to in fact confirm that a solar flare has knocked out all electrical systems. This will save you a great deal of embarrassment. The best items to check are your mobile phones and car. These are easy to access and by checking multiple phones or vehicles you can confirm that its not just you phones battery going flat. In addition to this, by checking any other electrical systems for functionality, you can further confirm the event of a solar flare has occurred.

The final step in this part is to take control. Once you have confirmed that a solar flare has occurred, immediately move to the meeting point. There establish yourself as the leader and organise your friends and family. If you are not a leader choose someone who is so you can follow and support them. Strong leadership is essential. Once you have established the leadership it is important to start organising your friends, families and follower. The best way to group your people is to base it off the military platoon. The platoon has 3 squads. In each squad is 8 people plus 1 team leader and 1 second in charge. The platoon then has a platoon commander and a platoon Sgt as second in charge. From this basic structure you can organise large groups of people which will become important in the next step. If you get more than a Platoon worth of people the next step up is a company which is three platoons with a company commander and second in charge. Remember this part as it forms the functional community that you will survive on.

The world has now changed because of this solar flare. But if you have followed the first part and acted quickly you will be in a good position.
The next step of surviving a solar flare is adapting to the new environment. Because normal services will be obsolete you must fend for yourself. Regardless of the size of the group/community you have rallied around yourself, you must now focus on the basics. The following areas are the first that you must address:

1. Food/Water - As we know without this you cannot live. Initially you will have to raid supermarkets for your immediate food, or use your prepared caches. Bottled water can also be found in the supermarkets. This however is short term and long term solutions will need to be found. Seeds can be gathered for planting and animals can be bred for meat and milk. Animals can also be hunted with rabbits and other such pests in great abundance. A big point to remember is that all water collected, unless bottled, must now be filtered and then boiled.

2. Base Development- You must choose a location to accommodate all of your group/community. Ideal places will be located near flowing water, have soil for growing plants, easily defended and provide adequate shelter from the elements. Everyday homes can be used as they provide great shelter, limited soil to grow plants and can be defended. Linking multiple houses together with a perimeter can provide an increased area for you to command. However with an increase of space, command and control becomes exponentially hard.

3. Security- The community you establish may become the target of other groups wanting to steal what you have built. In order to maintain your community you must consider security as a priority. Without security you should not do anything else. Everyone who is fighting fit should be taught what knowledge is known of self defence. Weapons must also be gathered and members trained on the use of them. There must be people purely dedicated to the maintenance of defence and security. They will be responsible for base security, work party security and security training. At all times night and day the perimiter of your base must be monitored with patrols.

The best way to achieve all these tasks at once is to divide your platoon into groups to acheive these areas for the whole group. One squad can find food and water for the whole platoon, another can develop the base while another can provide the security element. This is all coordinated by the platoon commander and second in charge. With more people in your group, whole platoons can be assigned to specific tasks.

At all times you must be encouraging people you meet to join your community. If they agree, find them a suitable squad or platoon for them to join. This will increase your numbers and ability to survive. You however must be wary of people who may be destructive to the group. These people are to be avoided and not just anyone allowed into the community. *Note from girlfriend proofreading* If unsuitable they should be eaten.

Further consideration- While I have outlined the main areas to initially address, in the long term you must also consider the following non-exhausted list:
-Medical
-Education
-Recreation
-Clothing
-Waste
-Reconstruction
-Basic Services (Firefighting, Policing)

All of these responsibilities rest on the leaders and junior commanders in charge of the group/community. To his company/platoon/squad members they must dictate what he wants to achieve and then allow them to achieve that. As a single person you can only do one task at a time. But by dividing it to subordinate groups you can multiply your ability to survive.