Posted on 02/23/2012 8:49:06 AM PST by chessplayer
Most Americans do not know this, but a single EMP attack could potentially wipe out most of the electronics in the United States and instantly send this nation back to the 1800s. If a nuclear bomb was exploded high enough in the atmosphere over the middle part of the country, the electromagnetic pulse would fry electronic devices from coast to coast. The damage would be millions of times worse than 9/11. Just imagine a world where nobody has power, most cars will not start, the Internet has been fried, the financial system is offline indefinitely, nobody can make any phone calls and virtually all commerce across the entire country is brought to a complete stop. A nation that does not know how to live without technology would be almost entirely stripped of it at that point. Yes, this could really happen. An EMP attack is America's "Achilles heel", and everyone around the world knows it. It is only a matter of time before someone uses an EMP weapon against us, and at this point we are pretty much completely unprepared.
(Excerpt) Read more at endoftheamericandream.com ...
No theY didn't.
The treaty banning nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water, often abbreviated as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT), or Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (NTBT) is a treaty prohibiting all test detonations of nuclear weapons except underground. It was developed both to slow the arms race (nuclear testing was, at the time, necessary for continued nuclear weapon advancements), and to stop the excessive release of nuclear fallout into the planet's atmosphere. It was signed by the governments of the Soviet Union (represented by Andrei Gromyko), the United Kingdom (represented by Sir Alec Douglas-Home) and the United States (represented by Dean Rusk), named the "Original Parties", at Moscow on August 5, 1963 and opened for signature by other countries. It was ratified by the U.S. Senate on September 24, 1963 by a vote of 80 to 19.
The chips and fuses will blow. The device your thinking of is a surge arrestor. They do work for lightning strikes. I’ve got all of my electronics connected through them. The circuits on a microprocessor will not survive. These microscopic transistors and other silicon based circuits cannot handle the instant surge that a EMP type event would cause. Resistors come to mind. When current flows in a conductor it creates heat. Heat weakens or destroys insulation. Add a resistor to the conductor and the resistor will heat as well. Too much heat and the resistor literally fry’s.
Hope this helps
Re: your posts to one another:
“Remember the Maine!”
>> What makes everyone think our power grid is so fragile? <<
How many spare transformers are in inventory? How long does it take to get them? Who makes them?
Please enlighten us.
Bill has given briefings to the NSA on this. The truly chilling thing is that you do not have to launch a nuke that “hits” anything. It only has to explode over KS-—say, fired from a rustbucket ship off our coasts. This is why Iran doesn’t need ICBM quality missiles, nor do they need a lot, nor do they need accuracy. They only need to be able to fire something from our coast that will explode over mid-America and could set us back 400 years.
One Second After may be fiction, but I assure you Bill has been invited to give briefings to the Army, Navy, National Security Adviser, and others. What he put in the book is only a very small part of the reality. And it ain’t rattlesnakes.
There’s a good chance the parts are made in China. Even if they aren’t, how will they get the parts to the right place?
Anytime there is a major winter storm or hurricane it takes weeks to restore power. Those examples are small compared to what an EMP could do.
And that was back when the switches were mechanical - now take all those microprocessors offline, and there is no human to throw a mechanical switch. Substations are no longer manned at all.
Just-in-time delivery also hugely increases risk - but that is an unintended consequence of tax law.
Some genius decided to tax utilities on yard stock - so they no longer have any.
can you say “cascading fault”? I knew you could.
About 20% of our generating capacity will be immediately lost - for good. Ironically, the EMP-hardened part.
The rest will be lost temporarily.
And the nation will go dark.
Please enlighten us.
There are 976,236 transformers in US inventory right now.
It takes 4 to 6 weeks after you call the local power company to get it installed. But the power companies always keep a bunch sitting around of all shapes and sizes for storms and damage. That's why it doesn't take 4 to 6 weeks when a dump truck knocks one off of a power pole or lightning strikes one.
Tempco, Hammond, GE, Seimens, ACME, and a bunch of foreign companies. Boats will still work, especially those that are not parked in Kansas.
Happy? :o)
Boats may work, but ports won’t.
I know that this is a very serious subject, but the title of this article reminded me of this:
No phone ,no lights, no motor car,
Not a single luxury
Like Robinson Crusoe
It’s primitive as can be.
I know that this is a very serious subject, but the title of this article reminded me of this:
No phone ,no lights, no motor car,
Not a single luxury
Like Robinson Crusoe
It’s primitive as can be.
Maybe you should try again.
How in the hell did they unload the Mayflower? At least we'll still have loaders, wheeled cranes and forklifts.
I'm not denying that the scenario would be devastating. But the apocalyptic "America destroyed" scenario is over the top for me.
As recently as the BP oil spill, experts agreed the gulf coast would be ruined for decades. All the studies proved it. Katrina wiping out New Orleans would cause long lines akin the the 1970s at gas pumps. Man Made Global warming will cause the oceans to rise and wipe out the east and west coast. DDT will kill millions (quite the opposite). The hole in the Ozone layer will heat the planet and cause cancer. The bird flu, mad cow, ecoli, swine flu, etc. will become a pandemic. An EMP attack will throw America to the stone age and kill most of us.
I know...but this is different....
Forgive me for developing a healthy skepticism. I do own a generator, have a canned good supply, keep a cache of batteries, weapons and ammo and have some stored water. I also keep 5 fire extinguishers in my house, have a dog and own and train with firearms. So don't think I'm naive.
Do I believe that Iran will attack Israel with a nuclear weapon if they get the chance? Yes. I also believe that Europe is a good glimpse of our future if we don't get our financial house in order here in America. I think the economic situation America is in is more dangerous than an EMP attack.
If we do get hit with an EMP and the devestation is as you believe, e-mail me something like, "I told you so." :o)
You think a few stevedores can unload even one conex from a freighter, without the crane?
Are there union workers still in charge on the docks in our hypothetical fantasy?
Ooooohhhh ... tempting, tempting, temping...
But I think I will pass.
LOL.
OBTW, the “email me I told you so” line was great.
Oh yeah! I forgot about Humungus. Then you’ve got a plan.
Agree.
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