Electromagnetic Pulse Threat and Carrington Event

by MHM
19 October 2018

 

  The threat of an electromagnetic pulse attack by a nuclear armed adversary is certainly a possibility (however remote), and we should not forget that a similar phenomena, called a coronal mass ejection, occurs naturally and has hit earth many times in the past. Most recently, the so-called Carrington event was recorded in 1859, and a geomagnetic storm occurred in 1989 damaging power generators and causing a nine hour outage in Montreal, Canada and the province of Quebec. 

  While an exoatmospheric nuclear burst (or bursts) would cause serious damage to the electrical infrastructure of industrialized nations, many areas around the world would not be affected and life would continue pretty much as it has for the past hundred years (if you’re into third world living standards). For those of us living in the “civilized world”, it’s an entirely different matter.
  In 1962, US nuclear tests confirmed that detonations in space caused an electromagnetic phenomena that could travel hundreds of miles and damage electrical equipment. The USSR also discovered this aspect of nuclear warfare, and implemented it into their war plans.
  Declassified US government documents show beyond a reasonable doubt that a high altitude burst does not require a multi-megaton yield weapon to cause a substantial EMP effect. However, device construction and materials must be specifically configured to provide the necessary output. I won’t go into specific details on how this is achieved, only to say that the technology is not beyond any nuclear weapons state (to include North Korea).
  On 22 October 1962, the Soviets conducted a series of effects tests which included the detonation of a 300 kiloton warhead at the height of 180 miles (Test 184). The EMP effects were quite severe, with damage to electrical equipment out to 621 miles from the space burst point.

  US data has shown that not every piece of electrical equipment will be permanently damaged; much depends on the type of equipment and level of shielding. During one 1998 lab test, several home computers were permanently damaged, while others showed no damage even with exposures to 32kv/m (“Final Report on Computer Test Data”, US Army Nuclear and Chemical Agency, 23 Oct 1998). Thus, there are numerous factors involved with an EMP effect, but for anyone concerned with such an event, basic steps must be taken to protect vehicles, communications equipment, generators, etc.

Theorized graphic of a EMP burst over the US.

Note how the fields vary in the distribution of volts per meter.

The Carrington Event
 

  Quite similar to an EMP, a coronal mass ejection is a serious space weather event which has a potential for world wide impact.  Earth narrowly missed such a CME in July 2012 by only seven days, some scientists conclude that the event exceeded the power of the so called Carrington event of September 1859.

  Thus, while the threat of a nuclear EMP burst remains a concern, a more likely scenario for near societal collapse would be a Carrington type event.

Old School Survival (OSS) blog
Copyright 2018 by Michael H. Maggelet

Further study- 

1. NASA.gov video on Coronal Mass Ejections 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ukQhycKOFw

2. An excellent technical writeup of USSR EMP tests-
"Soviet Test 184- The 1962 Soviet Nuclear EMP Tests Over Kazakhstan" by Jerry Emanuelson, Future Science LLC.

http://futurescience.com/emp/test184.html

3. Glasstone blogspot, another tech writeup, full of details-
https://glasstone.blogspot.com/2006/03/emp-radiation-from-nuclear-space.html

4. NOAA/NWS Space Weather Prediction Center
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/