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The electromagnetic pulse generated by a high altitude nuclear explosion is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences. The increasingly pervasive use of electronics of all forms represents the greatest source of vulnerability to attack by EMP. Electronics are used to control, communicate, compute, store, manage, and implement nearly every aspect of United States (U.S.) civilian systems. When a nuclear explosion occurs at high altitude, the EMP signal it produces will cover the wide geographic region within the line of sight of the detonation.1 This broad band, high amplitude EMP, when coupled into sensitive electronics, has the capability to produce widespread and long lasting disruption and damage to the critical infrastructures that underpin the fabric of U.S. society.
Because of the ubiquitous dependence of U.S. society on the electrical power system, its vulnerability to an EMP attack, coupled with the EMP’s particular damage mechanisms, creates the possibility of long-term, catastrophic consequences. The implicit invitation to take advantage of this vulnerability, when coupled with increasing proliferation of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems, is a serious concern. A single EMP attack may seriously degrade or shut down a large part of the electric power grid in the geographic area of EMP exposure effectively instantaneously. There is also a possibility of functional collapse of grids beyond the exposed area, as electrical effects propagate from one region to another.
The time required for full recovery of service would depend on both the disruption and damage to the electrical power infrastructure and to other national infrastructures. Larger
affected areas and stronger EMP field strengths will prolong the time to recover. Some critical electrical power infrastructure components are no longer manufactured in the
United States, and their acquisition ordinarily requires up to a year of lead time in routine circumstances.
It's just too bad the US is too broke to afford being world cop anymore. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to spend trillions of dollars on fragile gadgets operated by satellite.
We have no ground at all anymore to stand on. We just obligated ourselves without much at all for defense. China now has grown 11 years straight in defense spending with double digit increases (11-15%). Iran and Venezuela have both been building up also and their allies. Russia now is talking peace...
Meh, I'm too far from a target. It will probably hit NYC or DC, maybe if we are lucky the left coast would get a nuc and California will finally drop into the ocean. No big loss in any case, in fact it might help property values in the long run.
Meh, I'm too far from a target. It will probably hit NYC or DC, maybe if we are lucky the left coast would get a nuc and California will finally drop into the ocean. No big loss in any case, in fact it might help property values in the long run.
It doesn't need to destroy everything. Just shutting down electricity would be enough. You already see the anarchist are fidgety. It wouldn't be centralized and it could take out whole regions, maybe more. You know the military would be brought in after that... And the kicker, you can check out most of our nuclear sites on any of the satellite maps.
I'm putting this in my list of things not to worry about until it happens.
Just make sure you have protection, with no power there would be no police, fire, rescue.... No need to worry per se because if it happens it happens. But there is also folly in totally ignoring it.
If you've survived a major hurrican where you don't have electricity for 2 months you realize that society still moves along. People would rebuild. Electronics would be replaced. In fact, it would probably be good for the economy in the long run. As for anarchists, don't worry about it. All the stuff worth looting is usually gone in the first 24 hours anyway.
It is important to note that there is no "national power grid" in the United States. In fact, the continental United States is divided into three main power grids:
The Eastern Interconnected System, or the Eastern Interconnect
The Western Interconnected System, or the Western Interconnect
The Texas Interconnected System, or the Texas Interconnect.
The Eastern and Western Interconnects have limited interconnections with each other, and the Texas Interconnect is only linked with the others via direct current lines. Both the Western and Texas Interconnects are linked with Mexico, and the Eastern and Western Interconnects are strongly interconnected with Canada. All electric utilities in the mainland United States are connected with at least one other utility via these power grids.
Wow, like the brown outs from the Enron cronies.
Interesting how you want to borrow trouble.
Paranoid much?
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