Posted on 08/20/2012 6:13:28 AM PDT by raptor22
National Security: A new TV series demonstrates graphically how vulnerable our society is to an attack using weapons our enemies, including rogue state Iran, could use tomorrow — and the importance of missile defense.
Set in a future "where every single piece of technology — computers, planes, cars, phones, even lights — has mysteriously blacked out forever," according to the promos, the drama series is fiction, but the threat it depicts, the end of technological society and life as we know it, is a frighteningly real possibility.
We've warned of the threat many times, but the damage an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), a high-intensity burst of electromagnetic energy caused by an explosion of charged particles, such as by a high-altitude nuclear detonation, is a subject that makes eyes glaze over.
Let's hope this series will show the apocalyptic nature of this threat in terms average people can understand.
Eric Kripke, one of the show's executive producers, said, "We did our homework and came up with something that's actually plausible." Indeed, the script could have been taken directly from a report from the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse, which was established by Congress to assess the dangers of an EMP attack.
The report warned that it "has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures and thus to the very fabric of U.S. society, as well as to the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power."
As the Heritage Foundation reports, an EMP attack "would fundamentally change the world. Airplanes would fall from the sky; most cars would be inoperable; electrical devices would fail. Water, sewer and electrical networks would fail simultaneously. Systems of banking, energy, transportation, food production and delivery, water, emergency services and even cyberspace..."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
I'm not sure how an EMP attack would cause gunpowder to become inert, but maybe those Hollywood boys know something I don't ...
/johnny
It's not about realism, it's about trying to be Hunger Games: The Series under a different name.
Reading the book “One Second After” woke me up to the threat.
But, another thought; if there is a movie or tv series about it it won’t happen. (Hopefully!)
Hunting/Fishing/Camping/Hiking - Recreational Activities/Hobbies that can pay dividends.
You sound like one of those dangerous extremists. [/s]
Ditto on that.
“One Second After” is a great eye opener and a good read.
It made me really think about having to be prepared.
Survival seems to boil down to family, friends, and ammunition.
Apocalypse soon ping
IIRC the Whitney Streiber book “Warday” covered this scenario quite extensively. The depression caused by loss of currency in electronic tranit was the most significant result as well as the physical destruction caused by the relatively few warheads that were able to reach their targets after the EMP was set off. In that story, the US and Soviet (yes, it predates the breakup of the USSR) EMP weapons were hidden in satellites that were able to maneuver over the target countries and eject their weapons.
*yawn* This makes 5,024 stories about living after the end of tech. These Bozos clearly have no knowledge of sci fi.
Put me in the camp that believes the EMP threat is being hyped to a certain extent. Yes, it could be very disruptive, but so much is theoritical about how much would be disrupted, for how long and the extent of the areas affected.
My John Deere 1010 tractor would not be affected.
Walking Dead without the zombies.
Wouldn’t older cars work??
—Put me in the camp that believes the EMP threat is being hyped to a certain extent.—
Does it sell soap? That is why NBC exists.
Oh, you're giving them way to much credit. :-)
And, FWIW, the effects of an EMP are far overstated. Both here on FR and also by Hollywood.
As an electrical engineer, I’m pretty sure I’ll figure out a way to have my and my neighbors’ lights back on soon after. That show is full of characters who can’t even change a tire.
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