By Harold Moskowitz
What would happen if every device upon which you have become dependent in your daily life stopped working? Impossible you say because even with the built in obsolescence of our “throw away rather than fix” society, not everything could break at the same time. However, almost every device and machine touching your daily life operates with electricity either directly or by rechargeable b a t t e r y . E l e c t r i c i t y , t h a t “pressurized” flow of electrons through wires and circuits, has become the “life blood” of our 21st century society.
This was not yet true in the mid-19th century. On September 1, 1859, telegraph wires began to catch fire, telegraph keys showered sparks and their operators received electric shocks. The Carrington Event, as this situation was labeled, was an example of damage which can be caused naturally by the sun. It was a solar flare which caused a geomagnetic “storm” of electrons on Earth. During a solar flare, protons and other sub-atomic particles are shot into space from the sun’s surface. If the Earth is in the path of these particles, the protons smash into nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the atmosphere causing the release of electrons. These rush toward the Earth creating a type of radio wave called an electromagnetic pulse, or “EMP.” As with an induction surge of electric current through a wire resulting from a nearby lightning strike, it will overload and destroy transformers and delicate electrical components. This is especially true for closely-spaced microchips in circuit boards. Solar flare damage can happen at any time.
In 1989, one of these plunged all of Quebec into darkness. In 2005, a solar flare disrupted satellite-to-ground communication and the GPS system for about ten minutes, threatening satellite guided air, land, and sea travel. In 1859’s Carrington Event, few people except for telegraph users were affected. In today’s electrically dependent society, a severe geomagnetic storm would be catastrophic. It has been estimated that a modern day Carrington Event would cost society between one and two trillion dollars for just the first year of lost power with full recovery predicted to take four to ten years.
In 2007, NASA estimated the potential damage to its satellite fleet to be between thirty and seventy billion dollars to repair. In addition, it revealed that any humans in space not inside the shelter of a spacecraft while involved in a “space walk” would be endangered. Satellite damage would prevent GPS from being used in addition to all phone use. In all cases, a solar flare induced EMP would potentially cause much damage to power grids in the areas affected by the resulting geomagnetic storm. The ability to produce a man -made EMP was discovered by accident during the U.S. and Russian above-ground nuclear tests. Nuclear blasts produce short bursts of electromagnetic energy which cause the same effects as a solar flare.
In 1962, an atmospheric nuclear test over a Pacific atoll blew out street lights and knocked out telephone service in Hawaii, almost one thousand miles from the detonation. The Russians also noticed electrical disruptions caused by their tests. Both Cold War adversaries then developed special nuclear devices for a potential first strike EMP against the other as a means of preventing a retaliatory nuclear attack. The nuclear explosion causes rapidly changing electric and magnetic fields.
These may merge with power grid distribution systems and electrical systems such as microchip controllers on equipment to produce damaging current and voltage surges. As an example, pylon mounted high tension lines spanning the nation become a super antenna along which these damaging surges travel and intensify. When they reach the down-stepping current transformers, the transformers become overloaded causing them to explode and to catch fire. In individual electrical devices controlled by silicon microchips, the delicate components burn out, disabling the device or system.
The altitude at which the nuclear detonation takes place determines the extent of territory which would be subject to the damaging effect of the EMP. As in the case of solar flares, a specially constructed low yield nuclear device releases gamma rays which cause the release of electrons from collisions with nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the atmosphere. The electrons rush toward the ground following the Earth’s magnetic field lines. They travel from the altitude of the detonation in a direct line to where they reach the curvature of the Earth.
The Task Force on National and Homeland Security has determined that a nuclear device detonated at an altitude of between 186 and 249 miles over the center of our nation would electronically cripple all of the Continental United States, plus half of both Canada and Mexico. Part II will deal with how an EMP attack would affect gun owners and others.
