The truth about the 1859 “super EMP”
In 1972, a huge solar flare knocked out long-distance telephone communication across Illinois. Seventeen years later, another flare from the sun disrupted electric power transmission from the Hydro Quebec generating station in Canada, blacking out most of the province and causing 6 million people to lose power for nine hours. In 2006, a solar flare was so intense that it damaged the instrument taking a photo of it from a satellite more than 90 million miles away!
Today, X-ray telescopes in space and radio telescopes in space and on Earth can alert us that solar flares are on the way, but even that advance information probably won’t help us avoid disaster for our communications systems if a flare similar to the one that struck in 1859 comes calling.
Observed by Richard Carrington, one of England’s foremost solar astronomers, the 1859 flare manifested itself in a mammoth cloud of charged particles and detached magnetic loops that crashed into Earth’s magnetic field the next day, causing the global bubble of magnetism that surrounds our planet to shake and quiver. Turning skies all over Earth red, green and purple, it disrupted telegraph systems, shocked telegraph operators and set telegraph paper on fire.
Check out this article from NASA, “A Super Solar Flare.” detailing the history of recorded solar flares that have affected Earth and spells out the magnitude of the Carrington Event.
David Hathaway, solar physics team lead at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center says that records indicate the Carrington Event was nearly twice as big as any other solar flare in at least the past 500 years. If anything even close to that event occurs in our modern society, hundreds of satellites in orbit will be at risk, not to mention power grids on Earth.
What if it happens again? A better question might be, when will it happen again and what can we do to prepare for it? Please weigh in with your thoughts about whether the U.S. government is doing enough to prepare for an inevitable event with so much potential for disaster.
Great discussions, the bottom line is we are at a toddlers stage of knowledge on how Electromagnetism will affect modern civilization. Our Task Force is advocating the creation of a Center of Excellence revolving around a Computational EM Simulation Test Lab to examine E1, E2, and E3 vulnerabilities on commercial electrical systems and components followed by physical testing as needed.
Basically every wire of any length IS an antenna and the magnetic flux of an EMP event WILL create both a voltage and a current in it unless you block the magnetic pulse with a faraday cage, which consists of a metal that interacts with a magnetic field, thereby absorbing the EMP before it hits all those tiny little antennas in your toys. Get it? Got it! Good!
How can a metal barn or shop be used as a faraday cage? My barns are on dirt while the shop is on a concrete slab.
If the electrical grids are knocked out (meaning the power plants that supply our electricity), what good is having special protection for devices in your home? Even if they still work, cities won’t have access to power sources if power plants are knocked out, correct? Unless you own rural property with a well, windmill, and an ability to get to it, it seems like we’re all in deep doo-doo.
Here is the most important thing to protect from EMP after, air, and water sources. A small farm tractor. Yup, your seed garden won’t make it. It takes 8 people just to stand watch. All of them need food and water and probably have extended families. A good corn field will be worth more than gold. If you EMP protect and save stuff in an urban or suburban environment you are just providing material for the implementers of martial law to confiscate and use against you. Rural is the only way. Remember all significant conflict is followed by economic failure, famine, and pestilence. Sanitation is critical to long term survival, rotting bodies and rabid animals are not a pretty sight and will be Bain of urban society. A good metal garbage can is a good start for an acceptable faraday cage. Seals, conductive copper tape, and insulation materials are available and affordable. Bobble wrap and aluminum foil adds internal protection to the capability. Good place for your tractor’s spare starter, alternator, coil, points and plugs. Remember Faraday’s law, all those coiled wire devices are going up in smoke just like micro processors. Motors, pumps, starters, capacitor coils are all on the I don’t survive EMP list. Just what shocked those 1859 telegraph operators, perhaps the electro-magnet coils on the telegraph unit shorting out, Ya think! Solar flairs are more gentile than nuclear EMP. The frequency spectrum of EMP is even nastier. Remember defending the common good is a communist principal.
The idea that anyone can say that a “large Carrington Size Plasma” event happens every 500 years or even every one thousand years is preposterous. The Sun toses magnetic pulses into space everyday 24-7. It is just that we do not have the instruments to read the power of all these pulses in every sector of space around the Sun. The 2013 July GMD was twice the size of Carrington and we just barely missed it by one week in our orbital path. It just so happened that it did strike one of our stereo solar satellites that was able to confirm and measure this event. We need to wake up and smell the coffee that if a GMD or EMP event were to strike the US, according to the US Commission on EMP/GMD of 2008 we would be putting 280,000,000 Americans to rest. Most would have died from water borne diseases and hunger.
Sorry, I meant to say July of 2012…my mistake.
Everyone focuses on EMP damage but there’s a much more common danger to your electronics that’s getting mostly ignored. Lightning. At our house we have a drill where we run around unplugging everything from wall when we hear lighting storm approaching. Our friends thought us a bit nutty until one of them had his house hit. Even after insurance paid, it took him months to replace entertainment electronics, internet router, computers, microwave, fridge, freezer, telephones even washing machine.
Trish, we had a ‘Whole-House surge protector’ installed after the 4th lightening strike. Less than $300. Problem solved.
Trish, the cost of replacing your toys pales in comparison to a Carrington event because you won’t be able to replace ANYTHING. Society as you know it will cease to exist and “unplugging” things won’t save them from EMP or a CME event.
You are comparing a ripple on a pond to a 150ft tsunami coming ashore… a dingy wont save you.
The most damaging form of an EMP comes from the explosion of a neutron bomb above the troposphere. A “cloud” of free electrons will induce an electric current in anything that looks like a conductor, large or small. Electrical current in anything that conducts electricity creates magnetic field that can induce an electric current in any conductor in the neighborhood. Worst case, we have two problems to solve: electric current and magnetism. There is a state where a magnetic field cannot affect any object. It is called a saturated field. A stray magnetic pulse cannot penetrate it. A well-grounded electrical conductor will absorb most, but not all electrical current as it sends t to a neutral source, such as ground water. The Faraday shield is built to shield against both magnetic and electrical radiation. Stucco houses make good electrical shields because expanded metal mesh holds the stucco to the wall. However, that dos not keep the pulse from going through the roof (no pun intended).
Y2K never happened. 2012, Elenin and Comet Ison never happened. The reason for this is that they’re not in the Bible. Preppers are prepping for different scenarios without any true direction. The reality is the first event they need to prepare for is a Worldwide earthquake mentioned in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. A tent or a camper will be invaluable at that time. A natural EMP event, a coronal discharge from the sun will occur in Dec 2016 according to the Bible.
Not all catastrophic disasters are named in the Bible. For example, the Bubonic Plague s weren’t mentioned yet they so decimated Europe, and likely large parts of Asia, that it wasn’t until the last century that Europe had completely recovered. Nor were the Spanish Flu or the World Wars mentioned.
But if you’re referring to end time events, remember that the Bible does speak of many catastrophes leading up to the end without listing them or all their specific types. The Bible doesn’t foretell about all specific major events. Rather it warns us to be prepared, especially spiritually, for and adverse events.
While I’m not a prepper, your criticism of them leaves out local major events that perhaps most of us are unprepared for. That’s unfair as not all preppers are preparing for the End Times. Many aren’t even believers in Jesus.
As for date predictions from the Bible, I’d be interested in your justification of them. Even Jesus said He didn’t know the date of His return. Of course He did warn us about reading the times, which do seem to indicate His return soon.
We worry about traffic because it cuts into everyone time to travel different places. We put in billions of dollars to keep our highway systems updated. Doesn’t it make sense to keep our electrical grid updated to the same extent.””WE COULD START PUTTING ALL OF OUR ELECTRICAL GRID UNDERGROUND””. YA, THINK THAT MIGHT HELP ????????
“NUFFSAID”
Does anyone have a way to block EMP from an electronic safe locking mechanism?
A piece of MU metal around the mechanism will block all magnetic fields. Ground it out using the third round connection of a 3 prong plug by attaching the MU metal to it. This will dissipate any magnetic/electrical energy harmlessly into the Earth.
What is MU metal
faraday cage
During the mid-1970’s, I taught quantum mechanics at a local University and was also faculty adviser for the physics club. One project we did was to construct a non-nuclear EMP device. Total cost was a little over $400. It could be carried in a briefcase (battery extra) and had the power to take down a minimum of one electrical substation and probably a dozen more that connected to it. In other words, we could have taken out New York, Chicago, or most of Los Angeles. A perfect weapon for a terrorist. The plans for this type of device are available on the Internet, one site is actually part of the U.S. Air Force.
Be afraid…be very afraid.
Many upcoming problems could have been diminished if not outright avoided if “average Americans” were paying attentions and kept involved the way their
forefathers were. With so many clueless people who simply still “just want to have fun” there is really not much the “alert and patriotic people” can do. Sad as it is, we must focus on our families.
Always try to “reach out” whenever you can.
But if someone insists on pleading ignorance these days they could be – sadly – simply to stupid to have a “survival chance”. I have met many people like this. My observations indicate this could be a case with as many as 95+ % of people. And not JUST Americans…
Essentially good people, often eager members of religious communities. Just STUPID.
“They look but don’t see and listen but don’t hear”.
Perfect material for enslavement,openly promised by Illuminati=Globalists=Satanists.
Pray – even if you don’t believe in God. There has never been a better – and more urgent – time to reconcile with HIM.
You still might have your doubts. That is normal state of human mind. But TRUE science and even simple attentive observation of the “world around us” points beyond a reasonable doubt to HIS existence.
To help you get started, I recommend “Totalonslaught”.
America bless God! Now more than ever…
WOW to your last e-mail about the super EMP.
I may not always respond or be able to purchase things. I am aware and thank you for your efforts.
Very good and very possible.
The Senate voted to discontinue the EMP task force the government had. They did issue a report and it is available. They concluded four small nuc’s – optimized for EMP effect – launched over the mainland US would take down our entire grid instantly. One would kill Hawaii. We’re talking Kiloton weapons here folks; nothing fancy.
The HOUSE voted to require electric utilities to ‘EMP proof’ our electrical system nationwide. The Senate deleted that from the Smart Grid bill. No one in the current administration is willing to face the fact that both the Russians and Chinese are working to protect their electric systems.
Europe – which has much of it’s electrical equipment buried (protected) – might be able to continue as a viable society if they can produce enough food. The US and Canada will loose 75-80% of our population within a year from starvation, freezing to death, or dying for lack of water. It is just that simple.
Next time you vote – be sure to ask the candidate – are you FOR protecting our society against EMP attack? Both Iran and N. Korea are building nuc’s for just that ability along with rockets systems to loft them to the 50-60 thousand feet altitude they need to be fired at. Both have the ability already…
Just a note: EMPs will fry anything electric by overloading the power supply. It is good to have spares, but be careful to keep them offline as much as possible but enough to have them ready to go. Remember, no sunlight or not enough sunlight means no charging and no power. Always have a plan B, C, D AND E. Yes, windmills are effected. They produce electricity and will overload, if they are online at the time of the event. Hand devices and windup devices are great backups until you can go back online. Don’t get over confident. EMP is a VERY powerful energy!
As technology advances survival for the technologically inclined decreases. It never ceases to amaze me how even survival guides are modern advanced tools to protect modern advanced equipment. I remember last year in New Jersey our community was without electricity for 14 hours. This was due to a twister that knocked out a transformer. The next morning still without power I noticed several teens fast walking down the street in crazy disarray complaining about not being able to use their cells and gadgets.
My point is this….EMP does not affect bicycles, horses, matches & lighters, can goods, candles, oil lamps, charcoal grills, wood & gas grills, well hand pumped water, row boats, paddle boats, hand tools, etc.,etc.. Seniors who are familiar with these items and being out in nature or natural surroundings would adjust much easier than the young ultra modern people and continue to survive longer periods of time. BACK TO BASICS PEOPLE AND TEACH YOUR CHILDREN.
You must not really do much research on the topics you talk about. You can get a car I believe that emp won’t effect and so won’t end up without transportation. The french invented a car that runs on air and has no batteries. It can reach a speed of 70 mph. The AirPod. And you seem to forget to tell people that emp doesn’t effect solar panels not in use so spares can be kept for emergencies such as emp. That way you can still have power and transportation both after emp hits.
Lots of long winded comments. Bottom line….Buy a place in the country and be set up to live like a pioneer. Buy essentials first. Wood cook stoves, food, hand pump for your well, hand yard tools, hand kitchen equipment, etc. Once you have that first, and you have money left for fun stuff….Then you can concern yourself with the other things like solar. You can not eat a solar panel or new computer for lunch. If you can not get the water out of the ground, then you will die. Last thought….The government will be shut down also and only an idiot would leave the welfare of their family in the hands of idiots.
All the more reason to be prepared for what we know will come. Just because we don’t have a clue as to when doesn’t mean one cannot do something to be ready to do without power. I was brought up during the days when my older relatives who lived in rural areas lived right well without any of the modern conveniences of electricity, natural gas, solar panels etc. crops were done by hand tools and mules. Meat came from the woods, bird and rabbit hunting or even hog hunting. We used to set trot lines with about twenty hooks across the river or creek. River turtles were a tasty fare too. People bartered for what they wanted… and were willing to WORK!.
My great grandmother washed clothes by hand at the river using homemade lye soap. We had clothes lines to dry our clothes on and she had a fire going in the stove all the time for coffee or for heating a hand iron for the clothes. I’ve still got one on my mantel.
Yes, we would be inconvenienced…big time…but, all this electronic hardware wasn’t even heard of only about 125 years ago. If they lived without it up till then…we can do it again. So…we need to get off our backsides and our easy chairs and our televisions…and get out of doors and do at least one thing each day to be better prepared for being “inconvenienced”. Whatdya think?
Our Government, well…, no way to busy with bailing out fat cat C.E.O.’s, and wadging war in places we have no business being (Afganistan, Iraq, perhaps Iran…an others – ) there is simply no money left to do anything that would be effective, or prudent – something which would benifit mankind – not on thier agenda, spend money on war, bail out rich friends, Oil baby! crude oil – hard to see anything else when the crude is in your eyes!
A couple of thoughts,If you construct a tower with struts over your house car panels etc. will this act. like a faraday cage and do thick tall trees give any shielding-grounding effect- against EMPs? Ve3 pcc Bayfield Ontario Canada .
Sorry Ken, the trees won’t help you. The magnetic flux will go right through them. you need something that contains iron to intercept the magnetic waves which turns into an electric current which can be dissipated before it interacts with your electronics. Got it?
They probably are NOT doing anything! I really don’t think they’re smart enough, nor do they care enough, about the people. They are most likely just preparing to save themselves and to hell with everybody else.
You think that a EMP is bad look up planet X. The government has been hiding this for years
A solar flare can induce disruptive voltages in long wires like telegraph or power lines, but it is NOT EMP. For EMP you need sub-nanosecond risetimes and a very intense field. In 1859, Maxwell’s equations and electromagnetic waves had not been discovered.
Don’t cry wolf, lion, tiger, and bear when it is only a wolf!
More precise language needed on article. Title: 1859 Super Geo-Storm (Prevent misconception: geo-storm is NOT a nuclear-generated EMP). While it is very much like the E3 portion of a generated EMP, it is in fact not the same. Geo storm sources are usually the Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) from a star. Effects are increased if they track towards the Earth (not so much if they angle away). CME usually take 3-4 days to travel from sun to Earth. The ‘Carrington Event’ (dubbed a “superstorm”) was a double CME, both of which tracked toward Earth. The 1st CME cleared the ‘ambient solar wind plasma’ that acts on a CME similar to air drag on an aircraft. With this obstacle severely reduced, the 2nd CME reached Earth in about 18 hours and at near-full strength. This particular geo-storm was a “perfect storm”, and rare, even in a ‘solar-max’ period. Having said this, I still contend that common-sense precautions are ALWAYS good. (e.g. lightning protection or simple disconnection is sensible if NASA were to issue a ‘geo-storm’ alert)
I am also a licensed amateur and have a lot of equipment to protect.
Solar panels MAY be burned out, as they are only designed to handle so much voltage and current. The EMP WILL produce a very high voltage AND current. Almost anything turned on will be effected. (Almost – the older tude type of equipment [think vintage] will withstand a lot of abuse by an EMP. But if it is a direct hit of the magnitude of the Carrington Event, many of those might not survive.
A Farraday Cage is a good way to protect all electronics equipment, if the cage is ‘tight’ (and no conductors going into or out of it,) and all electronic devices/components inside of it are turned off. Battery powered devices should NOT have the battery connected.
There are ways to ‘harden’ modern electronics, most of them are not cheap. The best way to protect the equipment, if you are given enough warning, is to disconnect everything you can from it’s power source and ground the case (assuming the case is metal.) Also disconnect all antennas, and other cables (i.e. the cable tv line as close to where it enters your home as possible. At the very least, from BOTH the wall AND the tv, which you should have done as you disconnected the tv from the wall. Turning off most electronics these days does NOT power them down! They are still (Partly) on if they have a remote that turns them on, it needs to be powered up to receive the signal from the remote to turn on the rest of the device.
Any running motor MAY be effected by a massive EMP, even though dc motors will be less effected, a really massive hit could damage those also.
Thinking of dc equipment – a car is powered by the battery (12 volts – dc) but has a computer and other electronics, some connected to at least one antenna and all have wires going to them that will act as an antenna. While a car cqan protect you from a direct hit by lighting, if you are not touching anything metal, it is nor a good farraday cage, it is to open, all that glass, the emp goes right through it and good luck (re)starting it afterwards.
Disconnecting and grounding is and will be a lot faster and quicker (and cheaper) than replacing everything that wasn’t.
I hope that this answers most of your questions.
KA5EZQ
Good morning from Olds, Alberta, Canada
Being a licensed Ham Radio Operator, since 1963, (Advanced) I am aware of such EMP.
I have all my antennae lightning protected with Heights Supressors, but I should go up
one step for faster action to handle EMP’s. They are a bit more expensive!!
VE6KN.
I’ve been following this topic since I read the book, One Second After and some additional basic research on the subject of EMP’s and Solar Flares. I even went to far and bought the components of a Faraday “container”, although I haven’t put it together yet.
Considering the comments preceding my own and not having read Frank’s material yet, I thought I would share one tip that I recently read and that everyone who owns a motor vehicle might consider. It’s this: And if it is at all possible, you could buy spare/replacement components that you know contain sensitive electrical materials and store those in a Faraday box, like the ignition switch etc. Or…you could buy a very old vehicle, free of almost all of those bells and whistles that make starting and running the newer vehicles so easy. Owned or leased, don’t count on your dealer to be able to get you up and running. Buddy up with a mechanic and/or buy a repair manual for your vehicle(s) if you are so inclined to do it yourself.
If the items required are to numerous….you may want to consider buying a much smaller mode of transportation, like a bicycle, motor bike or buy and learn to ride a Motorcycle and keep any of those electrical components safely tucked away.
Let’s face it, it won’t be easy, but keeping a stable of basic bicycles and parts available is better than hoofing it.
Just a thought.
The easiest way to explain the results of an emp are examining the items we use on an everyday basis. Microprocessors, other integrated circuits, transistors, diodes, etc. are semiconductors. (These parts make up virtually every electronic device). Normally transistors and diodes have a decent tolerance to being overpowered, but when they are miniaturized to fit into integrated circuits and microprocessors, they become way more sensitive to overpowering. That said, when the electromagnetic pulse induces current into the wires and components, the components get fried rendering the rest of the circuit useless.
To summarize the above in simpler terms: All semiconductors will be fried. That means your brand new television, computer, and gps enabled car will be dead. Solar panels are made of the same semiconductor material which means they will probably be useless as well. Motors on the other hand will still work because they don’t contain any semiconductors. REMEMBER IT IS THE SEMICONDUCTOR BASED MATERIALS AND SMALL PARTS THAT WILL BE FRIED.
I have the same question, Janice. Also, is it that the EMP just affects something electric that is own or does it fry anthing running or not? If it frys the electronices, it might not be just a matter of recharging.
I too have been wondering how to harden-off the solar and/or wind systems to protect them from an EMP. I’m having a hard time even wrapping my head around protecting things inside the house as well.
In the form of a question. What can be done as to grounding solar panels & wind turbines against burn out, ? & is the faraday cage type system effective against this type of occurance?, & how best to employ it? Ray Narushof
If we had an EMP affect the electric grid, how does that affect solar panels and how long would it take for the panels to recharge? Don’t know may not even be thinking in rt. direction.
EMP doesn’t just affect the grid. It affects everything whether connected to the grid or not. If it’s electrical, has computer chimps etc in it’s system anywhere it gets affected. A computer chip doesn’t have to be “on” to be affected unless protected by a faraday cage system.
anything with a completed circuit is my understanding.