this post was submitted on 25 May 2024
77 points (100.0% liked)
chat
8104 readers
217 users here now
Chat is a text only community for casual conversation, please keep shitposting to the absolute minimum. This is intended to be a separate space from c/chapotraphouse or the daily megathread. Chat does this by being a long-form community where topics will remain from day to day unlike the megathread, and it is distinct from c/chapotraphouse in that we ask you to engage in this community in a genuine way. Please keep shitposting, bits, and irony to a minimum.
As with all communities posts need to abide by the code of conduct, additionally moderators will remove any posts or comments deemed to be inappropriate.
Thank you and happy chatting!
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Unfun
But yeah Idk, big solar flare/geomagnetic storm after human negligence? I just don't really trust the interweb to last I guess.
idk how accurate it is; but i've heard that all that'd need to be done in the event of a solar flare would be turning off the power grid until it's done, and there'd be hours of warning
The problem with electromagnetic pulses, which a solar flare basically is, is that they induce voltage in (even otherwise inert) metal. I think turning off the grid before a flare would reduce damage because high voltage cables wouldn't have two sources of voltage to deal with, but wouldn't protect us from all damage. Most local distribution infrastructure and unshielded devices would get zapped beyond their capacity whatever you do.
A solar flare would take out a massive amount of electrical infrastructure, on one side of the globe anyway. But a large portion of datacentres are shielded because putting in a bit of extra wire is a pretty small cost for a big benefit. So a lot of power/comms infrastructure would need recreating, but again, most of the data is unlikely to be lost.
It only takes one archive.org-type datacentre to survive to restore everything of any significance, and there are a fair few of those around.
Boooooo!! Death to the internet!!