Most of us are probably breathing sighs of relief that we no longer have to think about -- or hear about -- possible Y2K problems. But now that we are launched into the new millenium, there is another threat to our electronic lives on the horizon -- the solar maximum.

The sun is approaching the apex of its 11-year cycle of sun spot activity, and during the next few years particularly fierce solar storms will bombard the Earth's magnetic field. On the positive side, these storms can ignite spectacular displays of northern lights. But they can also disrupt radio communications, fry orbiting satellites and knock out power systems.

Few people living in Quebec during the last solar maximum will forget the impact that it had on their lives. On March 13, 1989, solar activity knocked out electrical transmission lines all over the province, leaving it without power for nine hours.

Solar cycles are not a new phenomenon as astronomers have been aware of them for centuries. The storms generated by this solar maximum are expected to be similar in size to the ones that occurred during the last solar cycle.

Solar winds streaming out of holes on the sun's surface travel at a rate of 800 kilometres/second. When they slam into the Earth's magnetic field, some of the charged particles break through into the Earth's atmosphere.

Even though the solar maximum has not gotten as much fanfare as the Y2K problem, power suppliers and space agencies such as NASA have been getting ready for this sunspot activity for some time. During the last cycle, one satellite failed completely and transmissions from several others were disrupted. Hydro Quebec has put new capacitors on its power lines to ensure that its power grid is not overloaded as it was in 1989.

But while solar flares can disrupt modern life, they can also create dazzling effects in the skies. While people in Quebec were shivering in the dark in March, 1989, many people were enjoying a particularly memorable display of northern lights.

Charles Deehr, an aurora forecaster with the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute in Fairbanks, remembers that night. When he went outside to watch the spectacular light show taking place, he could hear his neighbours oohing and aahing up and down the valley where he lives.

Deehr says that people living further south will also have more chances to see the northern lights during the solar maximum. During particularly fierce storms more charged particles travel towards the equator, expanding the range of the aurora. Sometimes the aurora can be seen as far south as the southern United States and Europe.

Deehr points out that Canadians are already well situated for watching the aurora as they occur most frequently at 67 degrees North Magnetic Latitude. "People at lower latitudes in Canada can see the same lights that Americans have to go to Alaska to see. You can see the same auroras in Winnipeg and Saskatoon as in Whitehorse," he says.

Astronomers count sunspots to determine a measure called the International Sunspot Number. The highest number recorded in the last solar maximum was 159. A similar level of sunspot activity is expected during this cycle, peaking sometime between June this year and January, 2001.

To date the record high International Sunspot Number is 201, recorded in March, 1958. Deehr had just moved to Alaska at that time, and says the aurora borealis was lighting up the night sky regularly then.

He also points out that solar flares were less disruptive then because the world was not as wired. There were no satellites orbitting the earth or long northern oil pipelines, electrical grids were smaller and telephones worked without microchips.

Now solar flares have a bigger impact because we are so dependent on electronics. But Deehr points out that we are also better able to predict solar storms now. "Satellites are out in the solar wind watching it continuously," he explains.

Some satellites orbit 63,000 kilometres above the earth, while others stay in one place, locked into position because of the balance between the earth and the sun's gravitational fields.

"Those give most of the aurora information. They are about an hour upstream of the solar wind," he explains.

The Geophysical Institute posts a daily aurora forecast on the Internet at www.gi.alaska.edu. Another excellent source of information on solar activities is the NASA web site.