General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhoa, If True: Jeb Bush, the Electromagnetic Pulse, and What You Can Do to Stay Safe on the Campaign
Whoa, If True: Jeb Bush, the Electromagnetic Pulse, and What You Can Do to Stay Safe on the Campaign TrailApr 19, 2015 9:30 AM EDT
This is the third installment of "Whoa, If True," an occasional look at the conspiracy theories that migrate from the wilds of the Internet to the well-covered tundra of presidential campaigns.
With a fire crackling inside a 19th-century, wood-framed clubhouse on the outskirts of Concord, New Hampshire, on Friday, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was doing what he does best: Displaying his breadth of knowledge by fielding questions on a range of issues, and giving his opinion on how best to solve nearly every one.
The ninth of 12 questions that Bush took on this crisp April evening inside the cozy Snow Shoe Club was from a woman who began her inquiry by telling the likely Republican presidential candidate that, "One of the largest threats that we have in our country right now is the EMP threat, whether it's from foreign..."
Bush cut her off. But not for the reason you might expect.
"EMP, in English, is the electromagentic? The pulse?" he said. "Oh, I read about this."
"Right," the woman continued. "It could be a solar thing, or it could be something that's going on. If we had one of those? With our dependence on electronics? What would you do to secure our system?"
It might sound like something better discussed among Star Trek fans, or from underneath tin-foil, tri-corner hats. But fears about an electromagnetic pulseand the ensuing chaos from the theoretical meltdown of the nation's grid that such a blast would causeappears on the verge of breaking into mainstream Republicanism. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has said it may be the "catastrophe that ends civilization." Paul Singer, the billionaire Republican donor, told his investors last year that it was the "one risk that is head-and-shoulders above all the rest." The Congressional Electromagnetic Pulse Caucus was founded in 2011 by U.S. Representative Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican.
And now count Jeb Bush, the son of one former president and brother of another, among the fearful.
"First of all, it scared me to no end," Bush said about his research into the issue. "It could happen naturally by some solar burst, or it could happen by some threat of terror. Both of which are possible. We have to fortify the grid, obviously."
MORE...
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-19/whoa-if-true-jeb-bush-the-electromagnetic-pulse-and-what-you-can-do-to-stay-safe-on-the-campaign-trail
alfredo
(60,065 posts)AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)The fevor swamps worry about terrorists with nukes. But a mass coronal ejection, which has happened, would do the same thing.
Frankly, we need a more hardened electrical infrastructure. And a lot more transformers With fariday (sp?)cages.
This is a problem.
Also, any nation with icbms and nukes could do this to us.
Cirque du So-What
(25,812 posts)the Amish would hardly notice, with the exception that they'd have to navigate their buggies around all the cars with fried electronics abandoned alongside the road.
reddread
(6,896 posts)they replaced it with Iraqi Muslim hijackers and then it was all shoe bombers and burqas oppressing women in these foreign countries so bomb them into decency.
Now its those evil EMP doers.
I need some sleep.
FrodosPet
(5,169 posts)The danger of Electromagnetic Pulse phenomenon is PROVEN. There is nothing theoretical about their potential to destroy the electric grid.
http://www.history.com/news/a-perfect-solar-superstorm-the-1859-carrington-event
March 14, 2012 - By Christopher Klein
The Carrington Event
On the morning of September 1, 1859, amateur astronomer Richard Carrington ascended into the private observatory attached to his country estate outside of London. After cranking open the domes shutter to reveal the clear blue sky, he pointed his brass telescope toward the sun and began to sketch a cluster of enormous dark spots that freckled its surface. Suddenly, Carrington spotted what he described as two patches of intensely bright and white light erupting from the sunspots. Five minutes later the fireballs vanished, but within hours their impact would be felt across the globe.
That night, telegraph communications around the world began to fail; there were reports of sparks showering from telegraph machines, shocking operators and setting papers ablaze. All over the planet, colorful auroras illuminated the nighttime skies, glowing so brightly that birds began to chirp and laborers started their daily chores, believing the sun had begun rising. Some thought the end of the world was at hand, but Carringtons naked eyes had spotted the true cause for the bizarre happenings: a massive solar flare with the energy of 10 billion atomic bombs. The flare spewed electrified gas and subatomic particles toward Earth, and the resulting geomagnetic stormdubbed the Carrington Eventwas the largest on record to have struck the planet.
Bright Flare, Dark Lines
Compared to todays information superhighway, the telegraph system in 1859 may have been a mere dirt road, but the Victorian Internet was also a critical means of transmitting news, sending private messages and engaging in commerce. Telegraph operators in the United States had observed local interruptions due to thunderstorms and northern lights before, but they never experienced a global disturbance like the one-two punch they received in the waning days of summer in 1859.
Many telegraph lines across North America were rendered inoperable on the night of August 28 as the first of two successive solar storms struck. E.W. Culgan, a telegraph manager in Pittsburgh, reported that the resulting currents flowing through the wires were so powerful that platinum contacts were in danger of melting and streams of fire were pouring forth from the circuits. In Washington, D.C., telegraph operator Frederick W. Royce was severely shocked as his forehead grazed a ground wire. According to a witness, an arc of fire jumped from Royces head to the telegraphic equipment. Some telegraph stations that used chemicals to mark sheets reported that powerful surges caused telegraph paper to combust.
~ snip ~
The 50th anniversary of Starfish Prime: the nuke that shook the world
By Phil Plait | July 9, 2012 6:05 am
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/07/09/the-50th-anniversary-of-starfish-prime-the-nuke-that-shook-the-world/
~ snip ~
The US, worried that a Soviet nuclear bomb detonated in space could damage or destroy US intercontinental missiles, set up a series of high-altitude weapons tests called Project Fishbowl (itself part of the larger Operation Dominic) to find out for themselves what happens when nuclear weapons are detonated in space. High-altitude tests had been done before, but they were hastily set up and the results inconclusive. Fishbowl was created to take a more rigorous scientific approach.
~ snip ~
But the effects were far more than a simple light show. When the bomb detonated, those electrons underwent incredible acceleration. When that happens they create a brief but extremely powerful magnetic field. This is called an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. The strength of the pulse was so huge that it affected the flow of electricity on the Earth hundreds of kilometers away! In Hawaii it blew out hundreds of streetlights, and caused widespread telephone outages. Other effects included electrical surges on airplanes and radio blackouts.
~ snip ~
reddread
(6,896 posts)its all just too much to handle.
good thing we dont need to discuss serious issues that actually impact lives.
because we have so much to worry about anyway.
flying saucers. illegal aliens from Canada. Democracy in the Caribbean...
Action_Patrol
(845 posts)Used to do frequent Special Order speeches on the floor of Congress about the dangers of EMPs.