Editorial: A total eclipse of the sun is a reason to unplug

Monday morning, just as the workweek is getting underway, the sun over the entire continental U.S. will dim and, in some places, go dark altogether as a total solar eclipse traverses the country from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic Ocean.

It may be tempting to read the solar eclipse as a message from a vexed Mother Nature or a physical manifestation of the current state of political strife, but the celestial bodies of this vast and ever-expanding universe are indifferent to our petty mortal concerns. Their movement is regulated by powerful and immutable forces, which periodically make themselves visible with a bit of dramatic flair when the sun, the moon and the Earth line up in just the right way.

Eclipses, full or partial, happen with some regularity — about twice a year, in fact. What makes Monday’s so special is that it is the first time in 99 years a total eclipse has crossed the width of the United States.

Think about it. When the last such astronomical event occurred, there was no television, let alone a ubiquitous Internet. The atom had not yet been weaponized. Most Americans alive today had yet to be born. Fewer people could be found in the entire state of California than now live in the city of Los Angeles, and grizzly bears still wandered the state’s wild areas.

Here’s another big change since 1918: We have learned how to harness the rays of the sun to power the electric grid. And that brings up a more practical consideration about the coming eclipse, particularly in California, which relies to an unusual degree on solar-generated power. On Monday morning, laptops will be powered up, industrial machinery will kick on and air conditioning units will start pushing back at the August heat without the aid of more than 4,000 megawatts of solar power that ordinarily flow through the circuits.

State utility officials say not to worry. They have a backup plan. The extra hydropower from the year’s big rainfall will help a little, and the rest of the shortfall will be made up from the state’s natural gas “peaker” plants designed for moments like these. Still, they are asking Californians to use the eclipse as a reason to unplug something, be it a phone charger, a device or some other appliance sucking power on standby mode.

It’s a good idea. Every megawatt conserved during the eclipse is one that won’t have to come from fossil fuels. But why not take the idea one step further and unplug from … everything?

It’s not often we have the chance to experience such an engrossing celestial show or get such a vivid demonstration of the great and awesome machinery at work in the universe. If you are fortunate enough to live in or to travel to the 70-mile-wide path of the eclipse in its totality, it’s said to be a life-changing experience as an unnatural sunset crosses the land in the middle of the day. Temperatures plummet. Birds and insects quiet. Then the night-black sky fills with stars and a glorious ring of fire. Suddenly, dawn comes for the second time in the day.

Even for those who witness only a partial eclipse, it can be a meaningful and profound experience — certainly better than staring at another spreadsheet or the president’s latest tweet. In California, the extent of the eclipse will range from about 58% in Southern California to about 90% at the northernmost point of the state near Oregon. Los Angeles will lose 62% of the sun’s light, casting the city in an eerie midmorning gloom.

This is an opportunity to collectively disengage from the societal noise and experience something extraordinary. Join a viewing party or make one of your own. It does not matter where or who you are, this spectacle is available to everyone. Just step outside and look up (with the proper protective eyewear, of course) at this rare and natural wonder that, for a few moments at least, can put all our worries, fears and annoyances into their proper puny perspective.

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