Fire in the Sky: The Threat of Electromagnetic Pulse Action on the Grid
Dec 27th, 2010 | By Sarah | Category: Energy, Solar Storm 2012 | Print This Article
“For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.” (Matthew 24:27)
Of course, in this context, I hasten to add, “But of that day and [that] hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” (Mark 13:32)
(After all, I’m not in the prognosticating business. From what two evangelists record Jesus as saying on the subject, neither was he—at least not in any mark-your-calendar kind of way.)
So no, I am not really talking here about the Second Coming—rather more prosaically, using a colorful image from one such eschatological passage to introduce two different kind of spectacular electrical eruptions and disruptions.
Too Darn Hot
Solar storms could cause one such potential disaster. We have been able to track solar storms into cycles, across a range of intensity, and current models predict the next maximum—a potential “big one—for 2012. One whopper came in March of 1989. Imagine a blast of hot, charged solar gas a million miles wide. Now imagine that blast—a “coronal mass ejection”—heading right toward Earth. It took three days to reach us. Earth’s geomagnetic field sizzled into an electromagnetic storm. Texans saw the Northern Lights.
These storms generate electromagnetic pulses (EMP), whose intense magnetic field may induce ground currents that over-amp the power grid: in this case, Québec got zapped. Six million Canadians and Americans were without power for nine hours or more. Opinion varies as to the potential scale of any future such hit to the grid.
The worst solar-origin case for EMPs would be a hot, fast coronal mass ejection whose magnetism was oriented opposite to Earth’s magnetic field.
Major static.
Major sparking.
One of those solar super storms is expected as soon as the next ten years, and no later than the next hundred.
The Nuclear Option
Another way to zap electronic devices, and possibly the electrical grid, is to set off an atomic bomb a minimum of 25 miles up (on up to 500 miles) in order to ionize the atmosphere. Under these circumstances, each EMP would pulse in three waves—their timing, duration, and effects determined by the physics of gamma rays. The extent of the pulses on Earth would depend on bomb size, detonation altitude, and particulars of bomb design.
Some claim catastrophic nationwide damage would be easy to achieve with this method. Others suggest major damage would require the equivalent of one of the big Soviet H-bombs, requiring massive infrastructure and currently not even being produced by nations—including those with active weapons-capable nuclear programs—let alone non-national organizations. (Production of weapons that expensive rose from the special conditions of Cold War ideology and tactics, in which the U.S. deliberately pressed the Soviet Union to bankrupt itself on its military. The USSR happily complied, and both nations squandered enormous amounts of resources in ways we feel to this day.)
As it happens, the U.S. tested this phenomenon in 1962 with a 1.4-megaton H-bomb, the Starfish Prime, at a height of 250 miles. The pulse shorted out streetlights in Oahu, about 900 miles to the northeast; Hawaii’s grid was not otherwise affected.
How Even Small Accidents Can Scale Up
The U.S. relies on three regional grids: Texas has its own, another covers the East and Midwest, another the West. Any one grid going out in its entirety—there can be a domino or ripple effect from the initial failure—could cause national disruption and expense, and if more than one were to take a major hit? Let’s put it this way—it will not be a “The Day the Earth Stood Still” event, with major electronic disruptions that don’t affect hospitals and planes in flight.
As one example of the scale of a cascading failure, August 2003’s blackout hit Great Lakes, Canada and states from Massachusetts to Michigan. Fifty-five million people depended on the 100 power plants that toppled one after another. Grid power was unavailable for a minimum of two days, with pockets where the outage lasted much longer. Economic costs were assessed at six billion dollars, mostly from lost work. And no big atmospheric EMP was needed for that degree of disruption. The source was traced to such a mundane maintenance issue as overheated lines stretching and sagging into under-trimmed trees.
(The instantaneous spread of such a local occurrence into a regional event could have been headed off in the same way geomagnetic storm effects can be minimized through retrofitting with dampers to offload surges into the ground. The expense of that kind of program compares favorably to the nearly $120 billion that “normal” blackouts cost each year.)
Prepare for the Worst in the Best Way
Back in 2003, with media stations, traffic lights, and urban train systems down across the northeast, and water supplies threatened, people had to learn to make do, and most did admirably. Few deaths or injuries can be traced directory to the blackout. Significantly, those deaths were from candle fires, and from carbon monoxide poisoning from home generators.
So it makes sense to be prepared. Preparation, however, means more than—or something completely different from—buying an internal-combustion generator and stocking up on fuel. It might, for example, mean an integrated, safe, possibly low-tech approach to energy consumption and generation. It might mean checking out the inherent safety and risk features of candle and holder types, and holding periodic lamp and candle safety drills in the home for young and old alike. It might mean doing whatever you need to do to be prepared.
Other articles in this issue:
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©2013 Off The Grid News
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How about an article spelling out what electronics might be affected by solar storms and nuclear events (they are different I believe – different number of waves). What happens to cars etc and what would not be affected?
I don’t think that is actually possible to outline and predict this. There are so many opposing theories and no real testing done on any methodical basis. There is one that I found interesting, although its an older video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvu08Y9XJ0U&feature=related
Also there is a good article or two over at Preparedness Pro on some of the things we can expect to be affected http://www.preparednesspro.com/blog/the-timing-of-an-emp-strike/
HTH
would an EMP wipe out solar panels?
I Wondered about the solar generator. It would be awful to potentially sacrifice a working model for a test, but I am interested. Its one of the things that I would like to get, but at a working mans wage, it would be a great disappointment to take it out of one box and put it into another box (Faraday cage) to stick in the ground for how long? Anybody pose this to Solutions from Science yet, and if so what was the answer?
You could build a faraday cage around the solar unit. wire mesh of a small enough size could let sunlight in but ground the EMP. The only problem is that to access your power you would a) have to run a power cord into the cage that would act as an antenna, directing the EMP right to your generator (bad plan) OR b) keep everything in a self contained unit (as is sold, nothing plugged into it) and have a spare battery that you could swap out every time the battery out of the cage runs out. this way you would only loose one of the two batteries in an EMP blast. Because the batteries are replaceable anyway, have spares are not a bad idea anyway.
On a side note, I read that you can convert a microwave into a faraday cage. Hack off the electrical cord, cover the exposed wire with metal tape/plate, then hook up a ground to the metal outside. good place to store a spare shortwave and laptop. A cell phone wouldn’t be worth putting in there becasue of cell tower vulnerability, but a small ham radio might work (i dont know if size would be an issue)
An EMP would knock out our solar panels. There are suppose to be some fixes, but I don’t know how they would test them. Jerry Emanuelson has several articles on preparation and grounding for an EMP. Check out futurescience.com
David,
We certainly appreciate all of your articles and find them valuable in providing guidelines for supplementing our preparations for th coming difficult times. You’ve written or posted several articles on the potential threat of EMP’s to our country, whether it be from Solar or Terrorist activity. This article today has finally motivated me to share some basic info regarding “Terrorist” caused EMP’s and the potential effects to our nation.
Several decades ago I was the engineering project leader on what whas then a secret Air Force project to develop an EMP simulator that was designed to be dropped from a very high flying B-52 bomber out over the mid-Pacific. The purpose of the simulator was so our military could calibrate a variety of intruments in preparation for the ‘real thing.’ Our mission’s goal was achieved and the tests were successful. I’m fairly knowledgeable about EMP’s and I can tell you the following with a high level of confidence:
- One, and only one, medium size nuclear detonation occurring approx 180-200 miles above the earth, over the central US, would immediately set this country back in time to the mid-1800′s.
- The pulsed EMP energy travels on a ‘line of sight’ hence the higher the detonation, the more geographic terriroty is affected.
- ALL unshielded electronic devices and digital storage devices would be immediately destroyed, whether they are operating at the time or not, as well as many low altitude satellites.
- The power transmission lines that criss-cross this nation would act like giant antennas that would pick up the very high energy EMP (pulses) and very quickly destroy most of this nation’s electrical generating capacity, including turbines, generators and the huge transformers involved. None of these components are manufactured in the US anymore and the current lead time on orders for such items can be a year or more. In addition, most all household and industrial appliances and equipment that are connected to the Grid would also be destroyed.
One of the major impacts from electronics being destroyed relates to most all gasoline automobiles manufactured after 1979 and all diesel automobiles mfg’d after the late 1980′s as they have electronic engine control modules that would be destroyed. Transportation, including most heavy trucks and much farm equipment, would become useless. And of course, the aircraft (commercial & private) would lost their instrumentaion and control systems.
Think about being “trapped” on an elevated expressway on a hot summer day in central Los Angeles when all of a sudden everything stops. And most people don’t have a clue. Remember, no radios, TV, phones, ell phones will work; no emergency services can operate; no water is being pumped; no sewage systems are operating; no A/C or refrigeration; no electrical anything is operational – nor will it be for a very long time.
Several of our enemies have the capability of launching the right type missiles either from their homeland, submarines or ships/barges. EMP weapons are the weapons of choice of a variety of our enemies. Iran has already practiced launching dummy warhead missiles, from ships, out over the Caspian Sea that were intentionally detonated at alttudes of approx. 180 miles.
Even unsophisticated SCUD type missiles could be launched from vessels off of any of our Coasts that could do the same thing but depending upon the type of device and its altitude of detonation could be limited to Western or Central or Eastern portions of the country.
Also, know this: the EMP energy travels close to the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second, so the destruction happens very quickly.
The EMP puls would NOT be physcially felt by human beings and the nuclear blast should be high enough to cause little or no damage on the ground. But, the unprepared masses of people in this country would soon die for lack of the basic necessities of life. Of course, there would soon be marauding gangs and unprecedented civil unrest, including the burning of major cities. Remember, no operational fire departments or pressurized water with which to fight fires.
The saddest part of all that I’ve told you is: most people do NOT want to hear about any of this let alone prepare themselves and their families to survive. Our most powerful tool for surviving such things is to have an up-to-date personal relationship with Jesus Christ. HE will be our ONLY reliable strength and protection during such a time.
Thanks for listening to what I’ve had to say. I trust that it is informative to you and that it will help you understand fact from fiction regarding this subject.
Wes, would you mind if I posted your comment over on my blog for others to read? I’d like to have your permission first.
–Jamie
Jamie,
Yes, you have my permission. And thanks for asking first.
May it help others be prepared.
Nice little reropt, Mark, thanks very much for sharing it. Lots of good points to ponder here. I especially liked the part about not overhwhelming people with product information. I’m always trying to find that balance between selling benefits and also being honest about what is contained within the product it’s challenging not putting people to sleep sometimes! You’ve got to grab their attention and keep it!Jennifer aka Internet Marketing Badger
Oh my heavens Wes! Thank you for this info., although I have to admit I’m shaking inside. Thank goodness I do talk with God every day & know where i am going when I die.
the question is, how? starvation, dehydration, or murder? we can prevent the first two, in most cases!
would also love to repost this. and might i suggest a yahoo group you might find interesting. love to see you there.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Christian_survival_last_days/
Amen! Great post, Wes. Thanks for sharing and educating the rest of us.
I started going to local junk yards and buying pick up tool boxes for less than 75 each.They are metal,plenty big to hold my solar panels and my wind generator(all held against a “rainy day”) and most anything else I plan on salvaging,such as my radios.walkie-talkies and,truth be known,anything with a “micro-chip”(what an EMP will destroy) that I plan on using after an event.I use my old panels to keep my battery bank hot and store the rest.As long as the metal is complete and the units are grounded they will do what you ask of them with no problems.
Easy,cheap EMP storage/protection.
Just finished reading the book One second After……
I know that no one really knows what is or is not going to happen however, from a science prespective,
how long does a flair last? how long would items need to be cashe or protected? min,hours, days,weeks?? longer? do we feel it? generally speacking-EVERY thing that uses ANY curent A.C./D.C. batterys too are gone with excption: 1980 or older autos (motors) and tube type radios….
automobile alternators?? starters?
So, after reading the other comments what is my best bet at preparing for this type of situation (EMP)? I have been wanting solar panels and wind. With one or both of these ways of producing electric for my home would it be wiped out by a EMP? How do I protect them and myself? Do you know of any types of grants for purchasing solar panels and wind generation.
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