The Sun and EMPs - the role of govt

[TGHusker]

Read this article and you'll get a glimpse on how small we all really are on good old ship earth. 2 years ago the Sun just about fried all of the electronics on earth - if the solar storm had occurred 1 week earlier. We often talk about the proper roll of gov't - overspending, spending too much on one thing and not enough on another. Here is a good case where we need our govt to spend more - hardening our infrastructure from this type of occurrence or a similar occurrence caused by an EMP explosion set off by a rouge nation or terrorists.

In relationship to this 'threat' immigration reform, ACA, Iraq, etc seem like small potatoes

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/07/23/how-a-solar-storm-nearly-destroyed-life-as-we-know-it-two-years-ago/

 

1. What should the gov't do to prepare infrastructure?

2. What should/could individuals do if anything besides - http://www.survivalistcamps.com/

 

 

EDIT: TITLE HEADING CORRECTED

[LukeinNE]

 

1. What should the gov't do to prepare infrastructure?

 

What CAN be done? That's not a rhetorical question, I'm really clueless on what sort of preventative measures could be taken.

[TonyStalloni]

My guess is that certain electrical parts on a vehicle would be fried as well. Computer,alternator and maybe voltage regulators? Should we be stocking those and keeping them in a lead box so we would at least have transportation (at least as long as our full tank of gas held out)?

[strigori]

This is something that individuals have little to do with, and that needs to be addressed by the gov, and the likes of NASA, but it will cost money, and as we tend to have businessmen and no scientists and engineers in congress, no one thinks longer term than a election cycle.

[tschu]

You don't want to fund food stamps and the ACA but you're on board with large-scale EMP disaster contingency funding? Ok

[Abdullah the Butcher]

Gotta build a magnetized force field generator obviously.

[NUance]

Meh, it takes a CME three days to reach us. But we see it happen on the sun's surface nearly right away (within the 8 minutes it takes light to travel from the sun to us). First thing I'm going to do is rush out and buy all the aluminum foil I can get my hands on. And maybe some corrugated tin to put on my roof.

 

 

btw, To change "EMT" to "EMP" in the OP just hit "use full editor" to edit the thread title.

[EbylHusker]

I didn't read the article (sorry), but the biggest threat is to the world's massive transformers that are part of every major power grid. I think there are several thousand or something like that. They're made to order and last I knew, there was a several year waiting list for them. They're made elsewhere and shipped overseas, etc etc. As things currently stand, a direct CME hit would most likely destroy many of them. This would result in blackouts that could last anywhere from several years to a decade, depending on where you're talking about who is doing the estimating. Many of them could probably be protected by a relatively inexpensive fix.

 

No joke, a CME blacking us out for half a decade or more is BY FAR the most likely world wide disaster, and one that many of us could easily see in our lifetimes.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I live in an area where the power grid seems to be older than areas I've lived before and we lose power several times a year. I half joke with my wife that I'm gonna put in a whole house generator, operated off of natural gas, but I'm half serious as well. Just can't seem to gather up 10k to 20k for the darn thing though. I watched a TV show on natgeo a few months ago that talked about America's aging infrastructure, from the electrical grid, to aging bridges, to aging roadways, etc. It was a scary two hour show to watch and really made you think about how vulnerable we really are. We lose the power grid, we're screwed...........

[Abdullah the Butcher]

Well we're all screwed when the magnetic poles reverse anyways, will have minimal protection from the sun until it fully reforms.

[Scratchtown]

I doubt we'll ever see it happen.

[Hooked on Huskers]

We're screwed. Massive suicides within two weeks. The first victims, probably 4 hours maximum, will be a smartphone users. No tweeter? No social media? OH NO !!! :ahhhhhhhh :ahhhhhhhh :ahhhhhhhh :ahhhhhhhh

 

We can't survive stone age primitive lifestyle. Human race becomes extinct, quickly.