>ackshully… the last mega flare was the carrington event in the 1860s (i forget the exact date). no civilizations were wiped out.
We did have a flare in the 50's. Not nearly as strong tho. Supposedly what sparked NASA. But was also accompanied by the aurora being visible as far south as Florida, at least.
>no extinctions resulted. other than the aurorae being visible at the equator, no one was adversely affected.
Extreme weather may accompany. Although, typically it takes a few days or longer for the charges to dissipate through the many layers of protective atmosphere, which is designed to assist this type of regular space weather.
>WE would be affected, but only because of our utter reliance on a fragile power grid with inexcusably inadequate safeguards.
Carrington event did fry our telegraph lines, or something like that. Can't remember all the details. But I think that might have been where the idea of 'grounding' took off.
We've really become dependent on power grids, now. Which would definitely be at high risk. At the same time, a lot of our devices run on minimal power, which now have multiple ways of charging independent of or less reliant on the grid. Obviously, appliances would be need the generator. Would be beneficial to have a faraday cage to put certain items in, if there was an extreme enough flare to fry electronics. It's a crime that most people weren't properly educated about this very important aspect of our everyday lives. The kept us ignorant on purpose