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The Danger of EMP, Electro Magnetic Pulse Attack

July 20, 2009 by national  
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emp

EMP is shorthand for Electro Magnetic Pulse. It is a rather unusual and frightening by – product when a nuclear bomb is detonated above the earth’s atmosphere. We all know that our atmosphere and the magnetic field which surrounds our planet is a thin layer which not only keeps us alive, but also protects us from dangerous radiation from the sun. On a fairly regular basis there are huge solar storms on the sun’s surface which emit powerful jets of deadly radiation. If not for the protective layer of our atmosphere and magnetic field, those storms would fry us. At times though, the storm is so power that enough disruptive energy reaches the earth’s surface that it drowns out radio waves and even shorts electrical power grids…this happened several years back in Canada.

View the detonation of a nuclear bomb, two hundred miles straight up as the same thing, but infinitely more powerful since it is so close by.

As the bomb explodes it emits a powerful wave of gamma rays. As this energy release hits the upper atmosphere it creates a electrical disturbance know as the Compton Effect. The intensity is magnified. View it as a small pebble rolling down a slope, hitting a larger one, setting that in motion, until finally you have an avalanche.

At the speed of light this disturbance races to the earth surface. It is not something you can see or hear, in the same way you don’t feel the electrical disturbance in the atmosphere during20a large solar storm.

For all electrical systems though, it is deadly.

William R. Forstchen is the author of this report and the book, “One Second After“. If you have not read it, we highly recommend it. More information is available at Amazon.com.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THIS “PULSE” HITS THE SURFACE?

One Second After

One Second After

Those who might remember ham radio operators, or even the old CB radios of the 1970s can recall that if you ran out a wire as an antenna you could send and receive a better signal. The wire not only transmitted the very faint power of a few watts of electricity from your radio, it could receive even fainted signals in return. As the Pulse strikes the earths surface, with a power that could range up to hundreds of amps per square yard, it will not affect you directly, at most you’ll feel a slight tingling, the s ame as when lightning is about to strike close by, and nearly all the energy will just be absorbed into the ground and dissipate. The bad news, however, is wherever it strikes wires, metal surfaces, antennas, power lines it will now travel along those metal surfaces (in the same way a lightning bolt will always follow the metal of a lightning rod, or the power line into your house.) The longer the wire, the more energy is absorbed, a high tension wire miles long will absorb tens of thousands of amps, and here is where the destruction begins as it slams into any delicate electronic circuits, meaning computer chips, relays, etc. In that instant, they are overloaded by the massive energy surge, short circuit, and fry. Your house via electric, phone and cable wires is connected, like all the rest of us into the power and communications grids. This energy surge will destroy all delicate electronics in your home, even as it destroys all the major components all the way back to the power company’s generators and the phone company’s main relays. In far less than a millisecond the entire power grid of the United States, and all that it supports will be destroyed.

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Comments

8 Responses to “The Danger of EMP, Electro Magnetic Pulse Attack”
  1. Rob Brems says:
    7/20/2009 at 10:20 am

    I have often been concerned about this type of event, and have built several faraday cages to protect my valuable (portable) electronics that my family may need in an emergency.

  2. Kobie says:
    7/20/2009 at 6:37 pm

    Rob,
    Solar radiation, high atomospheric nuclear detonation or new magnet/plasma EMP devices that do not require nuclear detonation or lightning strike. Yes a close lightning strike can fry electronics and leave metal magnitized so it needs to be de-gaussed.

    All of a sudden faraday cage is not so extream. BTW my EOC (emergency operations center) folks had never heard of EMP and we live near a large naval base.

    Sadly there is not alot of material on sizing faraday cage. Use fine metal wire – copper if you can find it. Make sure the lid has good electrical contact all the way round.

  3. David says:
    7/21/2009 at 9:23 am

    In an EMP attack/event, what does this do to wildlife and the enviroment?
    With everything shutdown, people would left to their own devices. While I have a disaster kit (bug-out-bag), I am also capable of providing for myself and others by way of hunting, fishing and growing a garden. I can survive without modern amenities. But my biggest question would be how would an EMP effect wildlife for hunting, water supplies for drinking and fishing, and the enviroment for gardening?

  4. Larry says:
    7/22/2009 at 4:15 am

    Try to imagine 21st Century America plunged into the late 19th century. No A/C, cars, or other things we have become accustomed to. That is what we would face and frankly, we will lose a lot of people from starvation and disease.

  5. David says:
    7/22/2009 at 8:37 pm

    So, effectively, those with the capabilities to survive without modern technologies will be able to survive. And those who not possess those abilities will depend on those who do. Am I correct in this?

  6. Jill says:
    7/23/2009 at 12:09 pm

    The problem not only lies in being able to provide food for you and your family but also defending yourself against those people who will not hesitate to take it from you. If you read the book, “One Second After,” you will see that is a significant issue. While I understand it is a work of fiction, it is based on something that could actually happen.

  7. Terry says:
    7/25/2009 at 1:59 am

    This was the premise of Dark Angel’s post apocalyptic scenario.

  8. Samantha Atkins says:
    8/16/2009 at 1:07 pm

    OK, where is the science here? How much of an EMP created by how many devices of what yield would fry all the electronics? And don’t we have cutouts on the grid for handling just large unexpected surges? Could we build more and better cutouts on our grid all the way out to our neighborhood power poles?

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