"If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces," physicist Daniel Baker of the University of Colorado tells NASA.
Fortunately, the blast site of the CMEs was not directed at Earth. Had this event occurred a week earlier when the point of eruption was Earth-facing, a potentially disastrous outcome would have unfolded.
Baker tells NASA:
"I have come away from our recent studies more convinced than ever that Earth and its inhabitants were incredibly fortunate that the 2012 eruption happened when it did."
"If the eruption had occurred only one week earlier, Earth would have been in the line of fire."A CME double whammy of this potency striking Earth would likely cripple satellite communications and could severely damage the power grid.
NASA offers this sobering assessment:
Analysts believe that a direct hit ... could cause widespread power blackouts, disabling everything that plugs into a wall socket. Most people wouldn't even be able to flush their toilet because urban water supplies largely rely on electric pumps.CWG's Steve Tracton put it this way in his frightening overview of the risks of a severe solar storm: "The consequences could be devastating for commerce, transportation, agriculture and food stocks, fuel and water supplies, human health and medical facilities, national security, and daily life in general."
According to a study by the National Academy of Sciences, the total economic impact could exceed $2 trillion or 20 times greater than the costs of a Hurricane Katrina. Multi-ton transformers damaged by such a storm might take years to repair.
Solar physicists compare the 2012 storm to the so-called Carrington solar storm of September 1859, named after English astronomer Richard Carrington who documented the event.
"In my view the July 2012 storm was in all respects at least as strong as the 1859 Carrington event," Baker tells NASA. "The only difference is, it missed."
During the Carrington event, the northern lights were seen as far south as Cuba and Hawaii according to historical accounts. The solar eruption "caused global telegraph lines to spark, setting fire to some telegraph offices," NASA notes.
NASA says the July 2012 storm was particularly intense because a CME had traveled along the same path just days before the July 23 double whammy - clearing the way for maximum effect, like a snowplow.
"This double-CME traveled through a region of space that had been cleared out by yet another CME four days earlier," NASA says. " As a result, the storm clouds were not decelerated as much as usual by their transit through the interplanetary medium."
NASA's online article about the science of this solar storm is well-worth the read. Perhaps the scariest finding reported in the article is this: There is a 12 percent chance of a Carrington-type event on Earth in the next 10 years according to Pete Riley of Predictive Science Inc.
"Initially, I was quite surprised that the odds were so high, but the statistics appear to be correct," Riley tells NASA. "It is a sobering figure."
It's even more sobering when considering the conclusion of Steve Tracton's 2013 article: Are we ready yet for potentially disastrous impacts of space weather? Tracton's answer: "an unequivocal, if not surprising, no!"
There are a few blasts from the Sun each cycle, most of which miss due to not occuring on the correct days or off-latitude alignment.
While the odds will eventually catch up with Earth, nothing is being done to soften the blow, whether on the electrical grid, satellite protection, internet system, car controls,etc.
The warnings from NASA go totally unheeded, so the risk remains at natural odds levels. 3 days lead time is all we are going to get.