Sunspot Cycle vs. the Power Gridhttp://www.thecityedition.com/Pages/Archive/2010/Sunspots.html

Whatever happens on the ground, solar physicists expect the Sun's behavior over the next two years to impact the planet in ways rarely (if ever) experienced by modern man. As a sign of scarier things to come, a medium-sized corona mass ejection, or CME, was detected heading towards us on June 7th. While its effect was inconsequential, NASA officials lamented that another CME emitted on the far side of the Sun was packing considerably more heat.

"If this event was on a collision course with the U.S., we would have had a major space weather event," Antti Pulkkinen of the Goddard Space Flight Center told the New York Times. "In this regard, we got lucky."

Stop and Think

On Valentines Day, a trio of solar flares caused minor disruptions to radio transmissions in China and produced auroras that were visible in the United Kingdom. Incredibly, Earth dodged a bullet on that occasion as well. That's because the CME that followed the flares to Earth was much weaker than expected.

SummarizeList three things you know about sunspots after reading this article.

PredictScientists say 2012 will be a year of record sunspot activity.

Make a prediction about how this sunspot activity may impact the Earth.

Solar Physicist

A solar physicist is a scientist who studies the sun.

ImpactImpact means to have an effect on. For example, the amount of money I have has an impact on what I can buy.

Corona Mass EjectionA corona mass ejection is a very large emission from the sun that disrupts the flow of the solar wind.

A corona mass ejection can interfere with the operation of satellites, with electric power on the Earth, and even with cell phones.

Stop and ThinkWhat do you think Antti Pulkkinen means by a major weather event?

Can you describe any major weather events that you’ve experienced or that you’ve read about?

AuroraAn aurora, also called the northern lights, is a colorful glow in the sky caused by the planet’s magnetic field and particles from the sun.