The UN Braces for Stormy Space Weather   
       
   Feb. 13, 2013:  Rewind to the late 1950s. The Soviet Union had just launched   
   the first artificial satellite, Sputnik. The United States, caught short, was   
   scrambling to catch up, kick-starting a Cold War space race that would last   
   for decades.  Space was up for grabs, and it seemed like anything could happen.   
       
   http://www.flickr.com/photos/unisvienna/5789748310/in/photostream/   
       
   The UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS). Credit: UN   
   Information Service   
       
   Into this void stepped the United Nations. In 1958, the General Assembly   
   "recognizing the common interest of mankind in furthering the peaceful use of   
   outer space ... and desiring to avoid the extension of present national   
   rivalries into this new field...." established the Committee on the Peaceful   
   Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).  COPUOS became a forum for development of laws   
   and treaties governing space-related activities. Moreover, it set the stage   
   for international cooperation on problems that no one nation could handle   
   alone.   
       
   As the years went by, COPUOS membership ballooned from 18 to 74 nations, while   
   items such as space debris, near-Earth asteroids, space-based disaster   
   management, and global navigation were added to the committee's regular   
   agenda.  At each annual meeting in Vienna, Austria, COPUOS members confer   
   about these issues, which present some key challenge or peril to the whole   
   planet.   
       
   This year, a new item is on the agenda: space weather.   
       
   "This is a significant development," says Lika Guhathakurta of NASA   
   Headquarters in Washington.  "By adding space weather to the regular agenda of   
   the COPUOS Science and Technical Subcommittee, the UN is recognizing solar   
   activity as a concern on par with orbital debris and close-approaching   
   asteroids."   
       
   Space weather is the outer-space equivalent of weather on Earth.  Instead of   
   wind, rain and snow, however, space has radiation storms, the solar wind,   
   flares and coronal mass ejections. The source of space weather is the sun, and   
   although solar storms are launched 93 million miles from Earth, they can make   
   themselves felt on our planet.   
       
   "Strong solar storms can knock out power, disable satellites, and scramble   
   GPS," says Guhathakurta.  "It's a global problem made worse by increasing   
   worldwide reliance on sensitive electronic technologies."   
       
   This week, members of the Science and Technical Subcommittee heard about some   
   of the potential economic impacts of space weather. For instance, modern oil   
   and gas drilling frequently involve directional drilling to tap oil and gas   
   reservoirs deep in the Earth. This drilling technique depends on accurate   
   positioning using global navigation systems. Drill heads could go awry,   
   however, if the sun interferes with GPS reception.  Solar energetic particles   
   at the magnetic poles can force the re-routing of international airline   
   flights resulting in delays and increased fuel consumption.  Ground induced   
   currents generated by magnetic storms can damage transformers and increase   
   corrosion in critical energy pipelines.   
       
   http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/26oct_solarshield/   
       
   Permanent damage to the Salem New Jersey Nuclear Plant GSU Transformer caused   
   by the severe geomagnetic storm of March 13, 1989. Photos courtesy of PSE&G.   
   More   
       
   "Space weather is a significant natural hazard that requires global   
   preparedness," says Prof. Hans Haubold of the UN Office for Outer Space   
   Affairs. "This new agenda item links space science and space technology for   
   the benefit of all humankind."   
       
   The elevation of space weather on COPUOS's agenda coincides with the 10th   
   anniversary of the International Living With a Star Program on Feb. 14. The   
   program is an ad hoc group of nations that got together in 2003 to lay the   
   groundwork for worldwide cooperation in the study of space weather.  The UN   
   will help take their efforts to the next level.   
       
   A key problem that the UN can help solve is a gap--many gaps, actually--in   
   storm coverage around our planet. When a solar storm sweeps past Earth, waves   
   of ionization ripple through Earth's upper atmosphere, electric currents flow   
   through the topsoil, and the whole planet's magnetic field begins to shake.   
       
   http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/21jan_severespacewe   
       
   A NASA-funded study by the National Academy of Sciences lays out the economic   
   consequences of severe space weather. More"These are global phenomena," says   
   Guhathakurta, "so we need to be able to monitor them all around the world."   
       
   Industrialized countries tend to have an abundance of monitoring stations.   
   They can keep track of local magnetism, ground currents, and ionization, and   
   provide the data to researchers.  Developing countries are where the gaps are,   
   particularly at low latitudes around Earth's magnetic equator. With assistance   
   from the UN, researchers may be able to extend sensor networks into regions   
   where it was once politically unfeasible.   
       
   Space weather might play a role in Earth's climate, too.  For example, the   
   Maunder minimum, a 70-year period almost devoid of sunspots in the late 17th   
   to early 18th century, coincided with prolonged, very cold winters in the   
   northern hemisphere.  Researchers are increasingly convinced that variations   
   in solar activity have regional effects on climate and weather that pay no   
   attention to national boundaries, and thus can only be studied in meaningful   
   detail by international consortia.   
       
   "The new permanent agenda item of the Science and Technology Subcommittee is   
   an important opportunity to harness the effort of all Members to ensure   
   coordinated global action," comments Terry Onsager of the United States'   
   National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).   
       
   Now that space weather has been elevated to a permanent place on the COPUOS   
   agenda, it will be a matter of regular conversation among UN diplomats,   
   scientists and emergency planners.  This is important because, while space is   
   no longer up for grabs, it is still true that in the realm of space weather   
   almost anything can happen.   
       
   Learn more about the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space at:   
   http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/COPUOS/copuos.html   
       
       
   Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.9   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)