I have a contact who works in the electronics field who tells me that EMP, or more specifically HEMP and CME-type disruptions are WAY overhyped. The grid, even as tattered as it is, can more than handle a single airburst nuke. Yes, some (easily-replaced) components may be damaged directly under the blast, and there is of course the chance that the odd big stepdown transformer might go, but the grid is redundant enough to route around that kind of thing. Only a synchronized multiple-burst attack could cover enough of the grid to prevent the EM transient from being dissipated. No country that really has a hate on for us has the capabilities or the technology to put multiple nukes in orbit and trigger them all over us with enough simultaneity to do that kind of damage.
Further, the vast majority of consumer electronics are insulated enough that they won’t be toasted permanently. Only things actually plugged into the wall will really be affected at all, and then only slightly. The military only worries about this kind of thing because they’re likely to need to be able to function after a close strike from a nuke, not an orbital one.
A lot of the “information” about the damage caused by EMP is propaganda left over from the cold war, when our scientists vastly overstated the effects as an attempt to make the Soviets think that their stuff was in too much danger to risk a war.
Could China do it?
Go tell your friend that he is an idiot, then kick him between the legs.
This is my EMP simulation:
Suddenly, without warning, nuclear detonations occur simultaneously, high in the atmosphere over different sections of the North American continent and Western Europe. These detonations originate from pre-positioned orbiting satellites armed with atomic weapons.
These high altitude bursts do not affect the surface of the earth with any form of destructive heat, overpressure or radiation, but a phenomenon occurs which is called Electro Magnetic Pulse, or EMP. The Electro Magnetic Pulse out across North America and the detotated N-bomb over Western Europe, collecting on power transmission lines and communication antennas. For a fraction of a second, the EMP spikes the power grid and receiving antennas with a huge surge of voltage. In the process of seeking ground, this surge is so quick and great that it jumps across conventional surge protectors, lightning protection, and even open circuits where the power switches are turned off, burning out and rendering useless all sensitive electronics, computers and communication equipment.The confusion created by the disruption of the national communication network is considerable. .
http://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p913.htm
This is my EMP simulation:
Suddenly, without warning, nuclear detonations occur simultaneously, high in the atmosphere over different sections of the North American continent and Western Europe. These high altitude bursts do not affect the surface of the earth with any form of destructive heat, overpressure or radiation, but a phenomenon occurs which is called Electro Magnetic Pulse, or EMP. The Electro Magnetic Pulse out across North America and the detotated N-bomb over Western Europe, collecting on power transmission lines and communication antennas. For a fraction of a second, the EMP spikes the power grid and receiving antennas with a huge surge of voltage. In the process of seeking ground, this surge is so quick and great that it jumps across conventional surge protectors, lightning protection, and even open circuits where the power switches are turned off, burning out and rendering useless all sensitive electronics, computers and communication equipment.The confusion created by the disruption of the national communication network is considerable. .
http://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p913.htm
This is my EMP simulation:
Suddenly, without warning, nuclear detonations occur simultaneously, high in the atmosphere over different sections of the North American continent and Western Europe. These high altitude bursts do not affect the surface of the earth with any form of destructive heat, overpressure or radiation, but a phenomenon occurs which is called Electro Magnetic Pulse, or EMP. The Electro Magnetic Pulse out across North America and the detotated N-bomb over Western Europe, collecting on power transmission lines and communication antennas. For a fraction of a second, the EMP spikes the power grid and receiving antennas with a huge surge of voltage. In the process of seeking ground, this surge is so quick and great that it jumps across conventional surge protectors, lightning protection, and even open circuits where the power switches are turned off, burning out and rendering useless all sensitive electronics, computers and communication equipment.The confusion created by the disruption of the national communication network is considerable. .
http://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p913.htm
/johnny
Well my FRiend, you need to choose between educating yourself from source documents or listening to idiots like this “contact” of yours who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
I suggest education, but YMMV.
Some people just like to make snippy comments on the topic of EMP because either they flunked science (or reading) or because they think it’s cute somehow.
If you’d like some facts, here is a report from the British House of Commons that was released just this year:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmdfence/1552/155202.htm
Like Fox News says, “We report, you decide”. But facts are handy things.