NORTHERN LIGHTS AND SUNSPOTS

I was reading in WIRED magazine a very eye catching article about the increased activity of sunspots. Among other things the writer mentioned that things are really going to heat up in the next 3 years and that by 2012 things could become very ugly.

WIRED;

Every 11 years or so, the sun gets a little pissy. It breaks out in a rash of planet-sized sunspots that spew superhot gas, hurling clouds of electrons, protons, and heavier ions toward Earth at nearly the speed of light. These solar windstorms have been known to knock out power grids and TV broadcasts, and our growing reliance on space-based technology makes us more vulnerable than ever to their effects. On January 3, scientists discovered a reverse-polarity sunspot, signaling the start of a new cycle — and some are predicting that at its peak (in about four years) things are gonna get nasty. Here's a forecast for 2012.
The forecast is for falling satellites, failure of GPS, radio black outs which may interfere with airlines or air traffic control. NOT good!
However, there is a bright side to this, the Northern Lights. It seems the increase in solar energy causes the earths magnetic field to stretch, then to snap back into place, creating sort of a magnetic explosion. Then those charged particles hit the atmosphere creating the light show.
In one article I read it said that those light may reach as far south as the Florida Keys. That would be something to see, except I don't know how we'll get there. No GPS, no airlines, I guess you might be able be able to get there using one of those foldy paper things, I think they call them maps?