In September 1859, the Earth was struck by an awe-inspiring coronal mass ejection (CME). Astronomers observed a brilliantly bright white flare emerging from the Sun, and auroras were seen as far south as Cuba and Jamaica.[1] This massive solar event wreaked havoc on electrical equipment across the world; telegraph wires burned off their poles, streams of fire poured forth from electrical circuits, and telegraph lines remained operative even with the batteries disconnected.
Today, electronics are more prevalent than they were in 1859 by many orders of magnitude. Almost every home in the developed world is connected to an electrical grid, billions of people rely on satellites for communication, and vital supply lines depend on electricity to operate. It’s been estimated that an EMP attack on the United States would utterly obliterate the American energy grid and starve 90 percent of the US population. The effects of an EMP blast are similar to those of a CME, except that a powerful enough solar flare would disable the entire planet.
How many of us are truly ready for such an event to occur? How would society and culture be affected in the long term if the Earth was hit by an electromagnetic blast like the solar storm that narrowly missed us in 2012? If all of our electronic conveniences were destroyed in the blink of an eye, modern civilization would be exposed to be as flimsy as a tinfoil hat.
Disaster Preparedness …
Best Price: $14.05
Buy New $14.06
(as of 09:25 EDT – Details)
Here are ten disasters that would befall mankind if a merciless storm were to descend from the Sun.
10 Knockout Of Telecom Satellites
With proper warning, communications satellites can be turned off before a solar storm hits the Earth….