Severe Space Weather to Impact Earth.Business/Technology Editors BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2000 Intellicast.com and American Power Conversion American Power Conversion, (formerly NASDAQ: APCC) based in West Kingston, Rhode Island, is a maker of AC and DC-based back-up power products and services. APC is best known for their manufacture of uninterruptible power supplies, mostly used as a backup power system for join to help consumers and businesses prepare for potential power disruptions triggered by peak of solar flare solar flare Sudden intense brightening of a small part of the Sun's surface, often near a sunspot group. Flares develop in a few minutes and may last several hours, releasing intense X rays and streams of energetic particles. activity Mother Earth will be rocked this summer by the effects of solar storms, which could create power problems and threaten business computer systems, home computers, cell phones and Internet access See how to access the Internet. . The peak of the 11-year solar flare and sunspot sunspot Cooler-than-average region of gas on the Sun's surface associated with strong local magnetic activity. Sunspots appear as dark spots, but only in contrast with the surrounding photosphere, which is several thousand degrees hotter. activity cycle is upon us and could spark geomagnetic storms, which will sweep our upper atmosphere and disturb Earth's magnetic field Earth's magnetic field (and the surface magnetic field) is approximately a magnetic dipole, with one pole near the north pole (see Magnetic North Pole) and the other near the geographic south pole (see Magnetic South Pole). . Intellicast.com and American Power Conversion (APC (1) (American Power Conversion Corporation, West Kingston, RI, www.apcc.com) The leading manufacturer of UPS systems and surge suppressors, founded in 1981 by Rodger Dowdell, Neil Rasmussen and Emanual Landsman, three electronic power engineers who had worked at MIT. ) are joining to help consumers and businesses prepare for the possible consequences, such as power surges and blackouts, which could lead to loss of business productivity and computer down time. Intellicast and APC will provide information on how to protect your small business and home electronic equipment on Intellicast.com, the online weather site for outdoor recreation enthusiasts. "Disruptions of satellite communications and power systems are possible, as happened in the last peak in 1989," said Joe D'Aleo, chief meteorologist at Intellicast.com, a global leader in real-time weather data, imagery and weather forecast services. "Ironically, we've become more vulnerable since then, by adding countless cell phones, pagers, computers and satellites to our ever-growing communications web. We want businesses and consumers to understand there may be problems, and that some precautions can be taken." Intellicast.com and APC, a global leader in power protection solutions, plan a series of explanatory articles and tip sheets on www.intellicast.com discussing the expected impact of the solar activity and of seasonal weather problems such as lightning, summer heat waves, hurricanes and winter-storm power outages This is a list of famous wide-scale power outages. 1965
Geomagnetically induced currents (GIC GIC See: Guaranteed Investment Contract GIC See guaranteed investment contract (GIC). ) are produced when shocks from severe magnetic storms interrupt the Earth's normally stable magnetic field. During the last solar maximum Solar maximum or solar max is the period of greatest solar activity in the solar cycle of the sun. During solar maximum, sunspots appear. Solar maximum is contrasted with solar minimum. cycle, a geomagnetic storm on March 13, 1989 plunged the entire Hydro Quebec system, serving over 6 million customers, into a GIC-triggered blackout. If the Quebec disturbance had occurred under higher load conditions, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Intellicast's D'Aleo, cascading outages might have spread across a region of the U.S. extending as far as Washington D.C. "Even when blackouts don't occur, these storms can induce spikes in power that can jeopardize equipment and computers, particularly with the increased popularity of always-on Internet access devices and services," said Aaron Davis, vice president of APC's Small Systems Group. "Businesses and individual consumers can prepare now by investigating the variety of products and services on the market that can minimize the potential of damaged equipment or lost data." About Intellicast.com Intellicast.com is Weather Services International's premier online weather site for outdoor recreation enthusiasts, including skiers, golfers, sailors and boaters and can be found at www.intellicast.com. The award-winning site, ranked among the top 50 for user loyalty, attracts millions of visitors per month to consult the lifestyle weather information, animated radar and satellite images. This data is updated 24 hours a day, seven days a week by WSI See wafer scale integration. meteorologists Atmospheric scientists
About WSI Weather Services International (WSI Corporation), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Landmark Communications, is one of the world's largest suppliers of real-time weather data, imagery, programming and weather forecast services to customers in the broadcast, aviation, utilities and government markets. More information about WSI can be found at www.wsicorp.com. Landmark Communications (www.landmarkcom.com) is a privately held multi-media company with national and international interests in newspapers, broadcasting, cable programming, interactive media and other interests. Based in Norfolk, Va., it employs more than 5,000 people in 20 states and Europe. Landmark owns The Weather Channel Networks, which include The Weather Channel, headquartered in Atlanta; weather.com; El Canal del Tiempo, broadcasting to Latin America; and O Canal do Tempo, serving Brazil. It owns CBS-TV affiliates NewsChannel 5 Network in Nashville and KLAS KLAS Keystone Library Automation System TV in Las Vegas; and the Travel network based in London. About APC Founded in 1981, American Power Conversion (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : APCC), a Fortune 1000 company, is a leading provider of global, end-to-end power protection products and services, which include surge suppressors, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), power conditioning equipment, related software and professional and consulting services for Nonstop Networking(TM). APC's comprehensive solutions, designed for home and corporate environments, improve the manageability, availability and performance of sensitive electronic, network, communication and industrial equipment of all sizes. Headquartered in West Kingston, R.I., APC, reported sales of $1.337 billion for the year ended December 31,1999. More information about APC and its global end-to-end solutions can be found by accessing the APC World Wide Web site at www.apcc.com or by calling 800-877-4080. |
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