News from the largest flare in the last 500 years.

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Models using that energy release showed 3.5 times more ozone was destroyed during the 1859 episode than in 1989.

This [superflare] breakdown caused global atmospheric ozone levels to drop by 5%. In comparison, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other chemicals have depleted the levels by about 3% in recent years, says team member Adrian Melott, a physicist at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, US.
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Solar 'superflare' shredded Earth's ozone

Great...and the last solar max was a doozy. Better stock up on sunscreen for 2011...

You won't need it! You're 30% iron, 40% zinc, 40% titanium and 40% dolomite, I've heard.

Andy

True, but excess UV completely ruins the impact of the spectacular specular reflection from my shiny metal <cough!>...I have an image to protect!

Forgot to post this from a link on www.spaceweather.com a few days ago. A link to a report by the National Academy of Sciences

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12507#toc

A Quote from spaceweather.com:

According to the report, "a contemporary repetition of that event would cause significantly more extensive (and possibly catastrophic) social and economic disruptions." The report warns of widespread failures in telecommunications, electric power, banking and finance, and transportation; even water supplies could be disrupted. The total economic impact in the first year alone could reach $2 trillion--about 15 times greater than the costs of Hurricane Katrina. Depending on damage, full recovery from the solar storm could take 4 to 6 years.