brush fires along the railroad tracks (where the telegraph wires were) caused arcing and sparking from the CME. If you are not concerned over a CME, may the next big CME blast your area so you can tell us what happened. If everything is not fried.
Go to YouTube and watch people playing with electirc arcs, they are not dangerous at low current. Super dry grass will go up in flames from anything especially if it was baking in the sun. High voltage causes arcing and it isn't dangerous.
They are using things you don't understand to scare you, that's all.
A CME is a low arc?
Wow. You really, really don't understand the concept. The CME is not a direct arc from the sun to the earth. What propagates through space is a magnetic disturbance. That magnetic disturbance can induce current in wires. The longer and thincker the wire is the more potential that can be created in that wire.
Because it is an instantaneous current and not a constant load the amperage is extremely low. Depending on the length of the wire the voltage can be high.
That is what the claimed threat is. Any ionized radiation will be deflected by the earth's magnetic field.
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