The largest EMP in the solar system
Ever hear of the Carrington Event? Probably not. It occurred more than 150 years ago and its effects were minimal. But if anything like it happens again – and scientists are convinced it will – the effects could be devastating. Named after Richard Carrington, an astronomer who witnessed the incident, the Carrington Event was a super solar flare that shot directly toward the earth. Causing what we now know as an EMP, this solar storm produced a high intensity burst of electromagnetic energy that disrupted communications and shocked technicians when it shot through telegraph lines.
Fortunately, there wasn’t a whole lot to disturb in 1859 in terms of electronics. Resting comfortably in their little house on the prairie, Ma and Pa Ingalls probably didn’t even notice it. But if a powerful solar storm were to target earth today, it could wreak havoc on our electric grids that support communications, computers, electrical appliances and much more. The kind of super solar storm that lines up with an orientation perfectly opposite the earth’s own magnetic field might occur approximately every 100 years. If so, we’re more than 50 years overdue.
I’d encourage you to check out the USA Today article titled “Electromagnetic Pulse Impact Far and Wide” by Dan Vergano (see link below). After explaining how modern society is so reliant on technologies that are vulnerable to EMPs, he explains how the intense magnetic fields that are created by EMPs can induce ground currents powerful enough to burn out power lines and electrical equipment. It’s interesting reading. Meet you on the other side.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-10-26-emp_N.htm
Newt Gingrich calls EMPs “an enormous catastrophic threat.” Representative Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said, “the electric grid’s vulnerability to cyber and to other attacks is one of the single greatest threats to our national security.” A North American Electric Reliability Corporation report conducted with the Energy Department found that pulse threats to the grid may be much greater than previously anticipated.
What do you think? Is a solar EMP threat worth being concerned about? Or is it a bunch of hype? And if you think it’s serious, what do you think should be done about it? According to Representative Roscoe Bartlett, a Maryland Republican, the cost of protecting our grid against such an occurrence would be roughly $100 million, compared to the $1-2 trillion that would be required to fix a fried grid. Let me know your thoughts.
Recommended Today
EMP Survival Guide: Did you know that defense experts are warning that this “weird” device could wipe out 280,000,000 Americans? In fact, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich wrote an op-ed piece recently for the Washington Post warning about the deadly threat from EMPs. I highly recommend you check out this video that reveals the #1 way you and your family can survive this deadly attack.
We have known about the EMP/GMD problem and solution for many decades yet have done little to safeguard over time, I can hardly see government or private industry allocating funds intended to protect our electric grid. My truth be told I have no faith that the masses are included in any plan for recovery, that is why I am here. Prayer will help to grow a reasonable level of what is most important BOBB, peace of mind and much needed resilience IMO. I appreciate your comment Alton C., would you comment further re the state and effect of earth’s weakened magnetic field? I am happy all here have eyes wide open. Best.
With communist Muslim fools running America and N Korea launching a satellite, and exploding a hydrogen bomb, I think our enemies will execute an EMP before the sun gets around to it.
I believe they are underestimating the price tag. That’s a drop in the bucket. It is 1/10 of one of those 150 billions we just gave Iran. Ironically, they or others, to whom they supply weapons, will get us with an EMP before the sun will.
I am a retired Power Systems engineer. Having been a former member of the National Electric Regulatory Council, Chief engineer of the largest utility in the country, a member of the Electric Power
Research Institute; I worked worked with the DOE, DHS, and was a member of the NERC EMP/GMD Task Force. I can most certainly assure you the Sun is not a source of EMP. (In the normal sense that term is being used) Many people, even some so called experts confuse the two completely different phenomena of a Geomagnetic Disturbance from the sun and a Electromagnetic Pulse from a bomb. Both GMD and EMP are extremely complicated. I have done several basic level presentations to different groups. It takes a couple of hrs. to just cover the basics. Worry about an EMP bomb attack. An EMP is emitted from low level nuclear explosion ( it does not has to be a big one) Discovered during the time we were doing nuclear bomb testing, there were instances where the testing equipment was fried along with some other equipment on the ground. Remember the cold war term “radio fallout”. The electromagnetic pulse is actually just a radio wave but of extraordinary power. Imagine 1 with 27 zeros after it as the number of watts. Ground based electronics could not withstand so much power and would be destroyed. Maybe not your cell phone as it is small and would not be a big antenna, but all the infrastructure that support it along with a lot of other things. GMD ( Geomagnetic Disturbance) from the sub is a spiraling wave of magnetic particles released during A Solar flare. If directed toward the earth it takes about 3 to 7 days to reach here. We cannot actually get good measurements until it is about a hour away. Depending on the strength and polarity it can induce unwanted currents in high voltage power lines which corrupt the normal current and can cause over heating of large power transformers. If no action is taken it can damage them, but there are so many variables any effect would be very rare. Hydro Quebec electric company did get hit a few years ago which caused a complete blackout, but relaying systems protected the equipment and they were back on in 11 hours. There was no confirmed damage. There are folks out there pushing fixes for what they say will be a GMD disaster, but the fixes if have seen would do more harm than good. I believe a GMD is almost a non issue unless there is a flare of extreme proportions and then any damage would be minor and limited. There is little we can do about EMP. WE would literally have to go back fifty years and rebuild everything.
Buy an old tube type radio. The heavy open wiring in them is much less susceptible to the pulse. This would allow you to have come way of receiving communications. Our government is fully aware of EMP, Most defensive systems are surely hardened against EMP. I am certain we ourselves has EMP pulse bombs. So do our enemies.
1oo mil. not much compard to a trill. dollers or how much has been spent on the war in the mid.east and then you should ask well the 100M. go for everything or well it go only for the Government but be asured this well happen and it well be hotter then man has ever known.
Darn Frank,
One hundred million sounds like a small price to pay to safeguard our power grid. When I think about how many DIFFERENT STORIES I’ve read about in just the past ten years how this department or that department lost, yes lost or misplaced billions of OUR tax dollars, its kind of hard to get too worked up over a hundred million, lol. Of course I don’t really think anyone lost diddly squat. Stole perhaps, spent on something they don’t want us, you know, the idiots that pay for all this stuff, to know about. But you know what I mean, lol……D.C. is run by nothing but liers, cheats, and theives. Even the good ones tend to change once they get there. Maybe they need a little extra floride in their water, I hear its very good for you, lolololol.
I work in the electrical utility field and know this is an issue. I do not think 100 million is a realistic price tag. It is a huge concern for the U.S. and many other countries around the globe. Knowing what I know from over 15 years in this industry, you can never be prepared for the unexpected likelyhood of such a perfect storm or terrorist attack. Even your solar panels would be likely destroyed by such an event. Cars useless and many other items we use daily. This whole topic always will depend on severity of the event. Our worst issue in a emp would be man power. There simply are not enough qualified workers to fix a national grid problem. Right now we shuffle contractors to problem spots to help but in a larger scaled event we simply would be out of luck. Our best solution is definatly to harden the system nationwide and prepare a plan in case that fails us. Individuals should plan for your families and our local and state governments should plan for shelter for those effected. Reason for this is you can never tell what will happen and you can get power restored quicker to mass locations like shelters as a priority. We can harden the generators to withstand the blast in reality but it’s harder to prepare wires that are very vulnerable to the event. Let’s not keep this narrowminded approach of just hardening the system but look at a whole picture. This whole picture could mean more than just a power problem. It can be more complicated than just that. Btw I am not worried if it did occur, but I know how to live with or without power. We all should learn that and it will make a huge difference.
I always feel it is better to avoid a problem rather than deal with the aftermath of a problem. So it would be smart to pay the $100 million upfront (or more), and not have to leave the whole country in the dark and have to pay trillions to fix the problem.
Sounds completely worth it to me.
Indeed there is cause for alarm and cause to listen well to many of you who took the time to comment. $100M is small kine, as they say in HI pigin’, compared to the daily waste by those who should know better. (aka our elected officials). Knowledge is power and staying ahead of disasters has proven to be a useful guard force. Discourse is certainly needed and attention needs to be paid to all the nasties that may come this way. Afterall, it is Halloween. The big question remains though, is anyone listening or is it NIMBY repeated. (Realistically I don’t see $100M doing the job since the bureaucrats will find a way to quad that I bet ya.) Pray won’t help this time around either. yikes.
I very firmly believe that we should do everything that we can to prepare for and mitigate the effects of an EMP whether it costs $100 million or $1 billion. I also understand that a bill was introduced in Congress to do this, but it did not pass because the electric utility industry lobbied against it. I don’t know all of the details, but I suspect that they did not want to bear the expense of the project. If anyone has further information, I would like to know why something more has not been done.
I THINK WITH WHAT THE GOVERNMENT AND BANKERS HAVE STOLEN FROM WE THE PEOPLE, THAT A 100 MILLION IS JUST A DROP IN THE BUCKET TO PROTECT OUT POWER GRID, ( SIMPLE IMHO)
WE WON’T EVEN MENTION ALL THE MILLIONS THAT ARE BEING GIVEN TO THE ILLEGALS.
WE THE PEOPLE COME FIRST ( AMERICAN CITIZENS)
The $100,000,000 it would take to harden our electrical infrastructure is peanuts compared to the (vastly understated, IMHO) $1-2 Trillion it would take to repair the damages, and the upgrade should be embarked upon ASAP. These, however, are not the most important thing for our consideration. EVERYTHING electronic/electrical will be destroyed should a solar or nuclear EMP strike us. No lights, internet, 98%+ of all autos inoperable, all hospitals basically out of service & many, many other problems that would result in this country reverting back to the early 1800’s, but without the necessary experience or skills to deal with it. Estimates I’ve read say it could be more than 10 years before we could even BEGIN to pick up the pieces.
If you want a slight idea of how bad it would be, read, “One Second After” by William Forstchen, who has written several “alternate history” novels with Newt Gingrich. Not only will it help you to begin to understand how bad an EMP would be, but it will convince you that we should…no, we MUST prepare our infrastructure for an event of this nature.
Look how devastating a single small event, “The Great Black Out”, was to business and everyday life.It was brought under control in mere months but it’s effects effected the Eastern US for two years. A Global EMP would knock us back into the early 1700’s. A population of 300 million couldn’t support and feed itself. There aren’t enough horses to get the food from the farm to the table.. The monetary system would collapse and so would governments. There isn’t a cheap preventative solution. Most, if not all, cars and trucks would stop running. Steam locomotives would still work and we would be heavily reliant on them. Of chief concern is the automatic safeties controlling our nuclear power plants from having a “Meltdown” It take electrify to keep them under control. I doubt any satellites would survive.
It would be a cataclysmic human event of global proportions.
However, if we had 5 minutes notice, over 80% of our power grid could be saved by taking it off line and shunts to ground activated. The question is, do we have such a protective option in place? Well, DO WE? IF NOT, WHY NOT?
We are probably being setup for the next False Flag event. The best way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to close down HAARP up in Alaska. They have the capability to create destructive storms and use military laser that could be used to destroy our grid. Yes, then comes Martial Law.
Oh by the way, these Solar Flares, according to the real Scientists, are the cause of Global Warming or Climate Change, and not caused by CO2 emissions from American industry, combustion engines or diesel engines. Climate Change is a hoax to further control and destroy our productivity.
If you can structure a proposal for our president on such a manner as to generate tons of grant money, you might get something
What a great opp to impose Martial Law!
Simple solution! Cut out the Obama Vacations! Redirect those funds and finally he will be doing something GOOD for the country. Hmmmm . . . . perhaps when shrimp learn to whistle.
BEST COMMENT I’VE HEARD SO FAR.
chirp whistle peck! I live Hawaii and I heard said shrimp tuning up. Big ones are actually grown in the islands.
I’ve only read the article recently, but there seem to be misconceptions regarding solar EMPs and the nature of grounds. I think it is important to know the basics of how these work so that you can make a wise decision as to what to do. My apologies for 1) such a long post, and 2) having to correct others in a public forum. No slight is intended.
SOLAR “EMP”
In the common use of the term Electro Magnetic Pulse, the sun doesn’t emit such a pulse, but may act in a manner that could simulate such a condition. The existence of EMPs were noted and studied prior to the first atomic detonation. The earliest references are believed to be by Russian scientists about a decade before WWII. In the 1950’s, Russian scientists developed a device that created an EMP without using fissile material. Subsequently, the U.S. developed a cheap and portable version. Let’s just say that high energy electro.magnetic pulses can be generated by collapsing a distinctively shaped, empty container by use of a shaped explosive charge. Such a device has quite a limited range. At any rate, an EMP can be created in various manners that produce high energy RF (Radio Frequency) ionizing radiation.
The sun continuously emits high energy RF ionizing radiation (RFIR). The earth is protected from this continual bombardment by its magnetosphere. The interaction between the solar ionizing radiation and the earth’s magnetosphere results in the so-called “Northern Lights.”
The sun can generate unusually large amounts of RFIR periodically by three main actions. The sun’s corona-sphere continuously emits RFIR, And because the intensity of the RFIR dissipates at the rate of the square of the distance it travels, the earth’s magnetosphere can protect us from normal emissions by the sun. But the sun is not in static equilibrium. One major event that can cause problems with radio frequency transmissions, and even power transmission, is a Coronal Mass Ejection, or the CME being discussed. Usually these are not all that large and not aimed directly at earth, so the RFIR that leaks through the magnetosphere is relatively small and causes annoyances, but little substantial damage. What the article describes is a larger than normal CME that is projected at or near the earth and may produce EMP-like damage to electronics and the power grid. Remember that a portion of the sun’s corona-sphere is being projected closer to earth than the standard 93 million miles. The closer the source of the RFIR, the less dissipation occurs. However, it is unlikely, but conceivable, that a sufficiently large CME could be directed very near earth, and EVERYTHING could be simply burned away by very high intensity RFIR, so don’t sweat the small stuff…as they say.
The sun can emit two types (other than CME) of more intense RFIR, but each is directional. The first is by a certain type of sunspot. We have long known about sunspots and have known that they emit unusually high energy RFIR more or less directly outward. Very recently, scientists have begun to understand sunspot formation, and have determined that there are more than one type. A relatively rare type can emit very high energy RFIR, and if directed at the earth, could also overwhelm the earth’s magnetosphere. Again, depending on the level of energy at emission and how close to earth the stream of RFIR is directed, effects could vary from electrical and electronic disruption to complete annihilation. And very recently, scientists have discovered that fluctuations in the nuclear reactions in the sun, below the corona-sphere result in a kind of spasm. One result is the reason for CMEs to be created in the first place. The other is a very, very high energy RFIR discharge. When radio-astronomers identify various stars by their “signature” radio waves, it is this type of emission that is “heard”. Again, these are directional emissions and can vary in effect. Just remember that they are believed to be accompanied by CMEs, so the cautions regarding each are closely tied together.
GROUNDS
People, even “experts” in the electrical field, tend to think of a ground as a single “thing” – the positive “sink hole” that draws electrical current. This is absolutely NOT the case. The entire universe is subject to an electromagnetic field, and the position of objects (electric current is one of those objects) in that field contributes greatly to the characteristics of that object. Grounds are a difficult subject, so I will try to simplify with an example.
Lightning is a phenomenon that is only now becoming understood, The type of lightning we are all familiar with is called “negative lightning”. Particles in our atmosphere “rub” against each other and create static electricity. For the most part, these charges are small, distributed and dissipate unnoticed. Talk to a ham radio operator and he can tell you that wind blowing against his antenna can create enough of a charge to “knock you on your butt” or even kill you in rare instances. That is why such antennae are protected by “lightning protection devices.” These devices are designed to divert the built-up charge to ground. They are effective in the gross sense, but there a number of situations that demonstrate that a ground is not a simple thing. Delicate electronics are sometimes destroyed by the ground itself. A “floating ground” condition can draw enough current from the earth to destroy delicate components. To understand how, let’s examine how lightning works.
Remember how particles in the atmosphere “rub” against each other and create static electricity? Think about what happens in a lightning storm. There are clouds that are whipped about by winds. The cloud is like a large envelope of moisture-laden air. Water is a good storage medium for static electricity, so wind whipping about a cloud is like charging a battery with electricity. Because our earth has a molten iron core that rotates, it is like a generator of sorts. It creates an electromagnetic field around the earth. In this case, by scientific convention, the earth is the “positive” side of the field and the magnetosphere is the “negative”. Electricity is created by ionized particles creating a “potential”. (An ionized particle is created when the charge equilibrium is disturbed. An electron is lost resulting in a positive ion, or an electron is gained resulting in a negative ion.) These ions can be created by electrons “jumping” when particles are “rubbed” together. This is an oversimplification, but gets us back to creation of static electricity in the atmosphere. From basic science, we know that opposites attract. What does that mean for our “cloud battery”? Well, the side of the cloud closest to the earth (positive) becomes negatively charged. The opposite side of the “battery” then becomes positively charged. The charge within the cloud builds between the two “poles”.
Now, here is where it gets interesting. As the electricity in the cloud grows, the concentration of negative ions in the underside of the cloud grows. That is, the earth’s positive potential is pulling on the negative ions in the cloud. There is no flow of electricity, as the atmosphere between the cloud and earth acts as an insulator. But just as the negative ions grow on the underside of the cloud, they create a potential or “pull” on the positive ions in the earth, creating a concentration on the surface of the earth – including any structures (trees, buildings, etc) attached. Thus begins the two-part phenomenon we call “lightning.”
There is a high concentration of moisture in the cloud, particularly at the underside barrier. This facilitates the transfer of electrons between particles and causes a rapid build-up of negative ions. Eventually, the strength of the field between the cloud and the ground increases to the point where the electrical current in the cloud tries to find a way to the surface. (In the scientific convention, electricity flows from the “negative” to the “positive”.) When the field reaches a certain strength, the uneven distribution of charge on the bottom of the cloud begins to search for the path of least resistance to the ground. Generally, this path is not the shortest distance between two points, but jumps from moisture molecule to dust particle and so on, because the conductivity of those items is the path of least resistance. Along the way, the electrical potential ionizes each particle negatively allowing the potential to flow along the path, aiding the ionization of the next particle. As you may imagine, any given path created by the opportunity of nearby conductive particles is uncertain. That path may be interrupted by a diluted set of conductive particles, and the path of ionization may abruptly change course. As a result, lightning usually looks like a crooked path and may have hanging “tentacles” where the paths of ionization simply stop. The course of ionization carries enough energy to heat the particles along the path to the point that they emit white light.
But, as this path approaches the earth, the potential gets closer to the positive ions on the surface of the earth, the strength of attraction is so great that potential in the positive ions cause ionization in the adjacent particles above the surface of the earth. As a result, there are ionization trails that rise from the surface of the earth. There is a point where the ionization trail from the cloud has not yet reached the earth, and the ionization trails from the earth have not yet found the least path of resistance to connect. You can find pictures of this condition on the internet. It appears as jagged glowing tentacles rising from the earth, trying to reach the main ionization trail coming from the cloud. Eventually one “tentacle” from the earth will find the “tentacle” from the cloud and connect. This completed circuit of ionized particles is part one of a lightning strike.
The completed ionized particle trail is a very efficient conductor. In the second part of a lightning strike, a massive portion of the electricity stored in the cloud is rapidly discharged to the earth. There is so much energy in this discharge that matter in the vicinity of the discharge is converted to plasma, and the heat of that plasma causes nearly immediate expansion of adjacent matter. The result in moist air is thunder. The result in a tree may be rapid production of steam causing the tree to explode open.
In the last 20 years, science has proven and examined the existence of another kind of lightning – “positive lightning”. A similar scenario plays out on the upper side of the cloud. The difference is that potential there causes positive ionization of adjacent atmosphere. There is no concentrated “ground”, but the magnetosphere causes the required potential for an electrical field. (Remember the magnetosphere is negative, but the top of the cloud is positively ionized.) There isn’t enough particles in the ionosphere to generate static electricity there, so the strike begins at the top of the cloud – thus the appellation “positive lightning”. As the ion trail rises two things occur. First, the particles become less dense. Second, the lack of density also results in a lack of insular resistance. It takes more potential to create the ionized particle path, but it is possible. The difficulty makes positive lightning relatively rare, Another thing is that the ionosphere does not contain enough particles to allow the ionization trail to reach the magnetosphere, therefore a connection is never completed. The various “tentacles” simply peter out in the ionosphere. While a negative lightning strike seldom exceeds 1500 feet from cloud to ground, a positive lightning strike can extend upward for miles.
It is, however, the phenomenon of negative lightning that exemplifies the problems associated with the concept of ground when it comes to massive EMPs. Massive EMPs produce massive electrical potential. This potential creates a ground out of any nearby matter, and an electrical discharge (pulse) affects everything in the vicinity. A lightning strike can hit a commercial aircraft and the “skin effect” of the aircraft’s panels create a “Faraday cage”, thus protecting the delicate electronics inside. The lightning has a path over the surface of the aircraft and continues to its eventual discharge point, whether the ground (negative lightning), the upper surface of the cloud (if the airplane is in the cloud), or the ionosphere (positive lightning). An EMP simply overcomes the skin effect and will fry the delicate electronics.
Now consider a massive EMP from a CME. It could completely overcome the magnetosphere. “Normal” RFIR causes the the Northern Lights because it overcomes the magnetosphere in the weaker polar regions and excites particles mostly in the mesosphere. A massive EMP could cause a great rise in positive ions in the surface of the earth and anything built thereon – like an electrical system or the ground of a Faraday cage. This reversal of flow of ionization from the earth upward is what is called a “floating ground”. A floating ground can be caused by a number of conditions. It could be caused by an impending lightning strike where the rising ionization causes an electrical flow upward through the ground to delicate electronics. It could be caused by a lightning strike near a physical ground for electrical equipment. When the discharge hits the ground the area experiences a temporary reverse flow. If the ground to the equipment is within the limits of the path of least resistance, electricity will reverse-flow into the system. Now imagine the effectiveness of your Faraday cage under these circumstances. An EMP by a CME, even one not strong enough to overcome the magnetosphere, could easily be strong enough to cause the ground to float enough to cause massive damage and destroy the skin effect.
A COUPLE WORDS ON THE MECHANICS OF GROUNDS
Simply put, a Ufer ground is the most effective ground you can construct. Please look up Ufer grounds. Even though it was invented during WWII, it has had little acceptance until about 20 years ago. Simply put, it is constructed of steel rods (usually reinforcing steel) encased in concrete which is then buried. Typically grounds are conductive materials placed in the ground. Copper is usually used (copper clad rods) because it has a high conductivity rate. But in the end, you are still trying to pass current from the copper to a granular material in the earth. Keeping the earth moist helps the conductivity, but the interface between the copper and the granular earth is not very efficient. In a Ufer ground, the steel has an electrical connection with the crystals in the concrete, each of which holds water molecules. Along with a mild chemical reaction (similar to a lead-acid battery), a relatively strong electrical connection is made. The concrete in turn is a moisturized granular material similar to the composition of earth materials, and transmission of current between the two doesn’t suffer from the problems of the copper/earth interface. A lot can be said, but I think you get the idea. Nearly all large antennae use Ufer grounds these days, and the next NEMA codes will likely require Ufer grounds for new construction.
FINISH
I apologize for the length of this post, but I wanted to present a comprehensive coverage of discussion subjects. I suggest you investigate anything I’ve said on your own.
Stay safe!
Really appreciate the educational content of this post. After retiring from a career in auto mechanics, which included fifty-five years of electrical, A/c repair, diagnostics on computerized cars, and doing my own electrical home repair, I learned the importance of ground circuitry. Thank you so much!
I must say that this was well worth the read. One thing… I am a licensed electrician and we hear horror show stories about lightning all the time. One I heard goes to your Ufer grounding scheme. A new home was built with rebar in the concrete foundation. The house ground was connected to the rebar grid embedded in the foundation. Soon after the home was finished, it got struck by lightning. The strike followed to the rebar, which was in intimate contact with the still-drying-out concrete, which contained moisture, which heated up and exploded, blowing the building to pieces. No one had moved in, so no one was hurt. But the Ufer ground should probably be installed a safe distance from any habitable space.
I’m convinced we will have an EMP, but I suspect it will most likely be the result of a bomb set off by one of our many enemies. North Korea has already been practicing sending them off. Those so-call tests that failed? They did just what would need to be done to send up an EMP….just needs to go higher. I’m not counting on our government. Not while the fraudulent usurper is in office. We have a faraday cage and I have already bought a new laptop that will not be used until AFTER the EMP. Every month, I save all my files on flash drives…I keep 2 sets, just to be safe. I’ve also got cameras, walkie talkies, contacts. etc., in there, as well. I’ve also got copies of our important papers, titles, insurance policies, etc
“Fraudulent usurper”? Surely you mean the Kenyan national, King Hussein? The only thing about this government you CAN count on, is more of the same destruction of the economy and defiance of the Constitution.
All the trillions spent on pumping up the economy could have been spent on rebuilding the failing grid, building new power plants and repairing all of our bridges and finally building infrastructure for new types of car fuel. We spent enough money under tarp to have paid for all of this. Instead we will sit with our fingers crossed but if it happens now we are sunk. We have the dumbest government in our history.
I would add greediest , and self absorbed to that assessment
I was in Middle World (Itaq primarily) for close to five years (network engineer). We had a few disruptive occurrences due to solar flares (activity)….these interrupts didn’t last long however the impact was immediate and usually widespread (WAN situations).
How you get politicians to actually do something to address this potential disaster is beyond me….shut their power down for 24 hours. Obviously, talk is cheap(er).
You are right.
The core of the Sun is a pulsar, powered by the same source of energy that vaporized Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 Aug 1945.
Frightened world leaders formed the United Nations on 24 Oct 1945 to save themselves from possible nuclear annihilation and almost immediately started bribing scientists to hide information on the source of energy that made our elements, birthed the world, and still controls every atom, life and world in the Solar System – a volume of space now bigger that ten billion, billion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) Earths!
See open message to members of the Space Science & Technology Committee of the US House of Representatives:
http://omanuel.wordpress.com
With deep regrets,
– Oliver K. Manuel
Former NASA Principal
Investigator for Apollo
PS – Evidence of the Sun’s pulsar core has been accumulating since Birkland’s 1905 expedition to study the aurora (Northern Lights)
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To me the real insanity is that this did already happen, yet our ignorant government fails to put the necessary regulations in place to protect us from the next one? I think to say anything about what it would cost to upgrade our systems is a waste of time. All we need to do is see the reality of this and know that everything would already be capable of handling a solar flare if the powers that be had even half a brain.
They are so busy taking religion out of government and that is fine with me, but they should at least replace it with science so we have some people (smart, educated people) that are actually concerned about what happens to the public and not our next election!
A Farady Cage is a metal envelope around whatever you are trying to protect. Basically when the EMP hits the cage the pulse is shunted around through the metal and then goes out the opposite side. An EMP pulse is very high frequency meaning it has a very short wavelength. What that means is there can’t be a sigle entry or even a tiny crack in the Farady Cage. If you have a laptop PC with a metal case – like my HP one that I’m uisng now – the EMP would enter the USB and all the other ports and blow it out. You could, however, wrap the whole thing in aluminum foil, being VERY CAREFUL to overlap all the seams.
Then put it into a metal barrel being sure that it does not touch the metal insides of the barrel so use some non-metal insulation there. And then the metal barrel should be burried or grounded.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Buy some secondary, spare, back-up electronics that you would like to have for an EMP TEOTWAKI situation and protect them from EMP. You won’t need a blazing fast PC – there will be no internet. Get one with low power. And a replacement battery. BTW, you’ll need to charge the battery powered devices and all spare batteries once evey six months or so or the batteries will go bad (self discharge – the actual time depends on battery type) and be ruined where they are not rechargeable any more.
2. Be sure to have a small solar panel and means to charge all the various batteries. I do not know if batteries will survive an EMP. I’ve seen references that solar panels won’t. Regardless, any battery charger that has electronics in it won’t.
3. In a EMP TEOTWAKI the zombies will be out roaming after just a few days. Unless you have a large enough survival community that can stand watches 24×7, especially at night, be sure to have zombie attack perimeter alarms detectors to give advance notice that you are under attack. Put extra ones in that metal barrel.
4. PRINT out all critical documents to have a paper back-up in the event #1 and #2 don’t work.
5. Be sure to read One Second After by Fortschen (sp?)
pgway – if the computer is OFF, no power, will it still be damaged? What about my solar panels themselves – I know to protect the Inverter and charge controller. Same q for car – would disconnecting battery while not in use make a dif? thx in advance
i think what you are warning about is a cme aka corona mass ejection which is from the sun not a emp , emp is a man made thereat ie as exploding a nuclear device in the atmosphere
I believe the point is that without electricity to power your devices protecting them would be useless. Having your own independent power system protected would be the only reason to protect any other electronics you may have. Also, with a devastating EMP like this protecting yourself and family will be most important. Many won’t be prepared for this and chaos will erupt almost immediately since it will be quickly realized the problem can’t be fixed overnight (for those who survive). Food and water will become the most valuable things in the aftermath. Safety would be next since the unprepared will turn to violence to get what they need. It’s a grim thought but history has taught us this is what happens in these cases.
Something that would be really valuable and helpful is to have guidelines for protecting
equipment from EMP How to store it. How to build a Faraday shield. how to protect your car
engine, tractors, small 4 wheelers etc from a pulse.
perhaps some background on what an emp is and how to protect from it.
thank you..
very interesting ! keep em comming. thanks l.c.
A friend of mine has the idea that a ‘space blanket’ will work for EMP pulses. Does anyone know if this is true or not? Somehow I just don’t think so…do you know? thanks
The severity of the communications (with other EMP damages) to Earth depends upon the size (length), intensity and time-wise duration of the solar flare that is DIRECTLY in line-of-sight to the Earth. The solar flare EMP’s affecting communications would not be the only thing to worry about. This is a possible Life Extinction Event with no remedies! Taking time now to get to Mars (or the Moon) to establish human colonies quicker is the only solution.
Tine and others:
Try getting a 55 gal (220L) barrel, [or a 40 gal (88 L) barrel would also work,.] Try to get the type that the whole top is removeable (clamped on,) style. It will make a passable faraday cage in a pinch. Just don’t forget to seal it (metal to metal) and ground it for it to work properly. These ‘cans’ should be available at any manufacturing place, and they might just give you one to get rid of it rather that having to have it hauled off!
I know a can is an option, but not for my computer, which is too big for the cans that may be available here. I have to see what other options I have, even maybe having a can made.
Today I tried to buy a suitcase, a notebook case, a bag or a box, all of metal, but didn’t find any. I had already tried locally, but didn’t find it here, so I went to the next town (several hundred thousands of inhabitants, with some major shopping centers, today. I hope there isn’t much of a risk here in Brazil, at least not in the very near future, for I can’t go to our State capital for a few months yet. I live in a rural area, the next town is 18 km from here, and the 2 million plus capital is 130 km away.
Thank you Frank, yes an EMP today would be devastating. I thank you for the info. Had not ever heard of it. Will check out the video. How long would it last? Would it effect the food that is grown outside? Prepare for how long? thank you Frank
WATER
Cotton with a special coating that collects water from fog is a potential solution to providing water in desert regions. Dutch researchers have developed a special polymer treatment for cotton fabric that allows the cotton to absorb exceptional amounts of water from misty air, as much as 240 per cent of its own weight compared with only 18 per cent without the coating. The coated cotton then releases the collected water as it gets warmer. The water is pure and the cycle can be repeated many times.
Personally, I hope we do get fried. I know it would be catastrophic, but I think it’s going to take something catastrophic to wake people up to the evils of governments and corporations. If it takes a downed grid to empower people over government, then so be it. As people, we can prepare individually for a downed grid… not that we can prepare totally and I’m sure it will be devastating even if we prepare individually, but I’m sick to death of the “system” as it is and would like to get power for the people over it.
So you don’t mind condemning the I’ll who rely on electricity to death. Wow. All we have to do is fire all current politicians and put in people who know what must be done. How sad all we do is talk and reelect 90 percent each time. American= NOTHING BUT TALK.
Spending 100 billion dollars to protect our electrical grid should be top priority.regardless of whether the source is from the sun or from a missle exloding over our country from an enemy.
I think that if one does not believe that this can happen is in trouble.This world is so vulnerable to many things that man has no control over. The earth is a very fragile eco system easily disrupted by many factors. This type of incident when it does happen ( And it will )will humble all of mankind and show us how insignificant we are on this earth. We are not very good stewards of our planet. All the other animals on this planet adapt to it’s surroundings,Man is the only one that adapts his surroundings to him .Lets hope we wake up here.We not only have to worry about threats from other counties, but it is our own government that we should fear most. (For) the people was out the window all long time ago.
I agree that shielding electronics (Faraday cages) is a good idea but it’s only one part of the solution. If the grid is down, nothing requiring 110AC will run anyway even if it was shielded. Anything running on batteries will have a short life. Without an independent source (solar, wind etc) of power to charge and recharge those batteries, you’ve gained little from the shielding. If the source is not renewable power (generators etc) then you’ve only bought a little time until the fuel runs out. The full solution is to 1) shield important electronics; 2) have a solar or other renewable source of energy to charge batteries; 3) have spare batteries. Those are the 3 necessary legs of the stool. Remove any one of them and the stool won’t stand – you have nothing. And never forget Murphy’s Law!
Well Frank,
Here we are living with another alarming pending thing over our head. Sun of a Gun, here comes the sun. Now lets see we lived beyond the twenty twelve end of the world thing, pretty darn good. Now we have a pending EMP about to slam us all down so our cars don’t start, the phone won’t ring, and the beer is getting warm in the refrigerator. This sound bad to me. You know we are all running on electrical frequencies too, which are changing slight frequencies back and forth to allow us the function through nerve to muscle communication. So maybe such a thing will scramble our brains and we will not have enough sense to worry about whats happening around us. I see a huge need for everyone wearing a tin hat with a ground wire hooked to a nail in the ground, while sitting in a high chair so their feet don’t touch the ground waiting for something to happen that we as a people are not going to do anything about anyway. I think I will buy some stock in a Tin hat company. Old Hugh
There is only one real solution. The power companies and the administration must spend the money to perform the necessary work. Truthfully, in an ideal situation, the power companies need to dig into their own pockets and perform the necessary work. At no cost to the consumer!
And, of course, Pigs are already flying spaceships to Mars!!!! LOL..We know that the utility companies are already figuring out a way to pass the costs on to US!!!! They are living off the backs of the consumers, and don’t want that to change!!
Yes, there is a very real possibility of an EMP pulse disruption and causing chaos and mass starvation in the entire world…NOT JUST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
OH MY !!we know about now do something b/4 it’s LATE ?? Who’s in charge ?
This is a joke. There is way too much hype about this. Why don’t you worry about the things that need to be taken care of instead of this? What can you do to stop this so called process so that we can get to the things in life that are really important? Instead of learning how all of us can change things we are constantly told to avoid people and worry about ourselves.
Fact is the power grid is going to fail on its own off we don’t rebuild it. This has been known for years but we need more ways also to produce power including nuclear but we are stopped at each turn by idiots who are determined to send it’s back 200 years. Doo you realize that if our grid fails we will have instant anarchy. We can’t even stop rioting when a jury doesn’t find someone guilty because they think his defense was a law he did not even use as his defense. America is disintegrating
Hi Frank, I couldn’t agree with you more. The threat from EMP has been hanging over our heads for the last 50 years, and that was due to the Cold War. Now, with continuing research in physics, astronomy, and the other hard sciences, we see that there are many other sources for an EMP pulse that we need to be concerned about. Yes, we should be concentrating more on securing the national grid against such an event; however, with all of the other money problems in Washington, this need probably falls far down on the budget item list. A group of local residents may be able to convince an electric co-op of the need for upgrades and preparedness – but, if the main grid is fried – what does that leave for locals. I have read alot about a Faraday Box and that would certainly be a way to try and save some small items that I would need in such an emergency. Problem is that up here in the north of Minnesota, the ground is a wee bit frozen and I would have to use dynamite to get a hole dug. Keep up the good work.
Yes EMP’s are as much as a threat as nuclear. I think lead lined containers for important electronic equipment spares would be a safe backup such as external hard drives. Also the portable wind up charge radio/light packs that you can get in most department stores would be a good backup. Good old fashioned bikes would meet the transportation needs.
I would LOVE If the whole world lost power and we could resset the people to what is really important in life.
Doing a Master’s thesis on this topic right now, and the number $100 million isn’t even on the low end of estimates. Think more on the order of $1 Billion just to do the very minimum protection from both solar and nuclear EMP effects. If you really want to do something about this, help encourage folks to live with a more distributed power generation system. The long power lines act as antennas picking up the fluctating magnetic fields caused by an EMP and get an induced current. This is what fries the high voltage transforms. These cost in the $10-15 million range and take an average of 1 year to build (they’re 100-tons and the size of a small house). So Frank, recommend you do a little more homework before you put stuff out. You’re always saying we can’t rely on the government to do our thinking for us, but you just used a barely informed Congressman to give you a tag line.
A Faraday box is about the only way to protect your electronics.For larger stuff,you might try to ground the frames to a grounding slug.You make an open wooden frame,sort of resembling a barrel missing half of its slats.Wrap it by coiling bare copper # 2-0 cable around it.Bury it in a 6 ft. deep hole by pouring charcoal granules into the hole around the copper cable coil.Moisten with water,and fill with soil.Leaving a tag end above ground,of course.Connect your grounds to this.It is much better than the usual copper pipe ground.
I keep spare electronic ignition modules for my cars and motorcycles in a grounded Faraday box.That way,if an EMP strike hits,all I need do is change the ignition modules in my vehicles,and I’m ready to go.I do not own any vehicles post 1980.I have restored vehicles with upgraded ignition systems.All you folks with computer controlled vehicles are,I am afraid,outta luck.
If you put your stuff bubble wrapped into a metal filing cabinet,you need to have it grounded to a ground system as I described.A grounded gun safe is better,but the whole thing revolves around having your Faraday box GROUNDED.If you don’t do that,it will be useless,no matter what you do.
Does anyone know if this other technique really works to protect electronics? I had read that you can wrap cell phones, computers, etc. in towels, then bubble wrap and put inside the drawer of a metal filing cabinet to protect them from damage or destruction from an EMP. If this is not know to work, does anyone else have ideas outside of having a Faraday box? Also read that a full emp will take out most solar power systems as well, you would have to rebuild the motor elements.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We should do it. Heaven knows this country has spend trillions on things it should not have.
I REALLY ADMIRE YOUR WORK BECAUSE A LOT OF US GO AROUND WITH OUR HEAD IN TH SAND. AT TH SAME TIME, WE CAN’T PREPARE FOR EVERY CONCEIVABLE DISASTER. WE’RE ALL A BIT WEIRD IN OUR OWN LITTLE WAY. SOME OF US ARE LIKE ” CHICKEN LITTLE ” WHILE OTHERS ARE MUCH LIKE THE AFORE MENTIONED OSTRICH. WE MUST USE OUR HEADS, HEARTS, AND INTUITION (MAYBE A FEW BRAINS) TO DETERMINE WHAT IS REAL & WHAT IS NOT. THAT IS YOUR JOB, FRANK. KEEP ON KEEPIN ON.
A few months ago I watched a TV program on C SPAN where many of our leaders heard and discussed a report about the possibility of EMP’s and the indications such an event might have on our country. It was one of the most unsettling programs I have ever viewed. You may be able to pick it up on the C Span web site still. My advice is to view it if you can find it. The threat is real and is going to happen for certain…..eventually.
EMP from solar flares are real, EMP attack however from NK or Iran is possible, this second case would be targeted so the USA would probably be affected most. A EMP flare however could affect the whole earth. One could have solar power in our own home $$$$$ but then the loss of power would not be so great. It is like the mechanic says you can fix the small things now and pay little or have to pay big time for a major breakage. The government probably will not pay now and we’ll pay dearly later. The after affects of this event would destroy the civilization. Read the Bomb, The Road, or One Second After. TY
We really don’t know what an EMP of any magnitude will do. Albeit we have indications, but what good does it do to keep the population totally frightened of everything, all the time? Living in fear is not only non-productive, it is doesn’t motivate anyone to do anything. I am a firm believer in being prepared for the future, i.e.; a storm, a hurricane, a fire, etc., but don’t you think this is really over the top. Most of us can only prepare for things on a temporary short term basis, using common sense, living within our means.
Candidly, it would be far better to focus on our relationship with Christ than to hoard groceries to last 10 years. After all when the heavens start moving and that includes the globe we live on, do you really think all of this hoarding is going to make any real difference? Having said all of that, it does pay to prepare for the short term. Thanks. Just thought I would share my opinion.
I beleave we are in for somethink BIG to happen. I was hopeing i would have my solar done, but I am having a hard time fineing the parts for my system. Just hope everyone has food & water stored up. Im working on that too. If & when it happens I pray everyone is ready cause I dont think our goverment not there to help any but tham self &to hell with us.
frank may repost this website for the noaa’s “cme heads up warning system” which includes the NASA cammilla project to assist the prediction process it was in reguards to solar emp so youll see your tax dollars did go to somthing useful but as an airdefense soldier it is great threat in my opinion to not just the american people but the world and if a super carrington or “GALACTIC SUPERWAVE” hits and destabilizes the magnetosphere well have far more than electronics failure we will have heliofreeze aka the real “2012 event”
Frank,
We won’t survive an EMP.
Bill
did not agree with the Global Power Matrix and it is unconstitutional. We need to go back to simpler days of survival. Tampering with the earth’s natural magnetic fields is asking for horrific consequences. That’s what I believe. Not all technology is good and necessary. It’s bad enough as it is with the danger of solar flares hitting us. I have a sibling who is writing a book about EMP. I can’t wait until he finishes the book. He is also studying in preparation for handling catastrophic disaster situations. By the way, chem-trails are a hazard to life. mixed with bits of aluminum, plastic, etc. Supposedly intended to cover the widening ozone due to man creating toxic and dangerous environments, it just exacerbated the problem. Are we even safe planting our own gardens? There is the acid rain problem that still exists. Folks need to come together and help each other with the varying knowledge they have to install/build what they need to survive with and not make it difficult for those finance-wise in preparing for the times we are headed towards.