When Homes And Buildings Burn During The Next Solar SuperStorm

One thing is for certain, there will be another solar flare “SuperStorm” similar or worse than the Carrington Event of 1859.

One day again there will be an exceptionally mammoth explosion on the sun – a solar flare producing a colossal cloud of charged electromagnetic particles headed directly towards the Earth.

Also known as a “CME”, or Coronal Mass Ejection, the streaming mass of particles from a Carrington sized event will crash into the Earth’s magnetic field and likely (abruptly) end our way of life as we know it today.

How? By knocking out our lifeblood – electricity and electrical / electronic systems.

For how long? Let’s put it this way… the power won’t come back on line like your typical power outage. It could take months, a year, longer, or never.

Why would it take so long? Because the probable damage to electric power systems and electronic infrastructure would necessitate repair and replacement to such an extreme extent that the task would be seemingly impossible with electricity, never-mind without…

I have written numerous articles and have had lots of discussion here surrounding the potential devastating aspects of the long term loss of electricity and electronic infrastructure as a result of EMP (electromagnetic pulse), solar-flares and CME.

This time though, I am going to highlight yet another potentially devastating aspect of a solar super-flare and subsequent SuperStorm:

FIRE

 
When you research what happened 158 years ago during a time of modern technology, it’s eye-opening to interpolate what would likely happen today – given what happened back then.

The Earth’s invisible sphere of magnetism surrounding our planet began to shudder, shake, and oscillate. People down below couldn’t feel it, but they could see it. The sky lit up in greens, orange and red as charged particles slammed through. Today we call it a geomagnetic storm.

“Rapidly moving fields induced enormous electric currents that surged through telegraph lines and disrupted communications.”

“The telegraph systems in Europe and North America were brought down, with some reports of electrocution and fires spawned around their lines.”

“Many telegraph lines across North America were rendered inoperable. 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.”

“Some telegraph stations that used chemicals to mark sheets reported that powerful surges caused telegraph paper to combust.”

Dr. Peter Vincent Pry reports, “The Carrington Event was a worldwide phenomenon, causing fires in telegraph stations and forest fires from telegraph lines bursting into flames on several continents. Fortunately, in the horse and buggy days of 1859, civilization did not depend upon electrical systems.”

Another Carrington Event today would likely collapse electric grids and infrastructures all over the planet. Billions of lives would be at risk. Pry says “Scientists estimate that geomagnetic superstorms occur about every 100-150 years. The Earth is probably overdue to encounter another Carrington Event.

 
Given the fires caused by the event 150+ years ago, can you imagine the increased potential for fire in today’s modern world?

How would fires happen? During a Carrington Event CME, for a period of time Earth’s magnetic field would contort and convulse while inducing electrical currents onto our power grids and electric infrastructure, destroying them, perhaps permanently.

A conductor, a magnetic field, and motion is all that’s needed to conduct electricity. With the entire Earth’s magnetic field in motion, and given the incalculable amount of wire, coils, conductors, electrical transformers here on Earth, there would surely be huge amounts of heat generated as strong currents flowed through – some of it setting fire to surrounding homes and buildings.

I haven’t heard this aspect talked about much (fire) with regards to a long lasting and powerful CME, however it seems likely to me. It’s bad enough that we would be sent back to the stone age without our electric systems, but then to have the potential of fire burning through what’s left of our infrastructure, does not paint a pretty picture.

 
What can we do about it?
Regarding the fire aspect to this potential life-altering apocalypse, keep a number of ‘ABC’ fire extinguishers in your home. You should anyway!

Professional ABC Fire Extinguisher

Depending on where you live and when your home or building was built, modern electrical codes should certainly help contain any potential electrical fire within the home’s electrical infrastructure. That said, there are plenty of older structures out there with questionable electrics…

Additionally, some home appliances have motors (which contain wound-coiled electrical wires-conductors) which may be susceptible to heat and fire. Even if they’re not plugged in there will be currents flowing in these devices during a major ‘SuperStorm’ CME.

Do you live in a tightly developed neighborhood where if the home next door catches on fire then yours probably will too? Do you have a bugout plan for that?

Are all of your preparedness eggs in one basket in your home?

 
sources include:

history.com

science.nasa.gov

Solar SuperStorm 1859 ‘Carrington Event’

 
Related: One Second After

69 Comments

  1. This is the first I’ve heard of the Carrington Event of 1859.

    Scary stuff back then…nowadays it would be apocalyptic.

  2. I’ve been worried about fire ever since the house next door to me burned down. I was lucky that we have a very good volunteer fire department, or mine would have burned down too. Fortunately, that house was torn down and I now own the vacant lot. No one can build on it. The 4-plex on the other side of me has a metal roof and recently had metal siding installed and there is a concrete parking lot between my house and the 4-plex. I should be safer now than I was 18 months ago — though I now worry about my new propane tank 25 feet from my living room.

    I have been thinking that we should have plenty of warning about a CME. If I heard that one was coming, I would turn off my main circuit breaker. I wonder it I should also turn off each individual breaker and unplug all my electrical appliances as well?

  3. This is one possible event coming from a powerful CME. I don’t think most people have given this scenario any real thought. If even a small fire should start somewhere this can cause a cascade of events. No electricity means the fire department can’t pump water to put out any fires. I don’t know how many people remember Breezy point in NJ where the whole neighborhood burnt to the ground during Sandy. This is likely to happen after a CME as well.

    We currently have two full size fire extinguishers and have two more on our wish list. People should not count on water being available to put out any fires that get started.

  4. The Universe is a violent place and our planet and Solar System is just a very small part of it. Knowing what we know now, I’m surprised that our planet (and humanity) has survived as long as it has. Solar Flares take place on a regular basis (to include world wars) but a “Carrington Event” would be devastating. I’ve read a while back that if we know that the “Big One” is coming that our power companies can shut the grid down for awhile which would help reduce the effects. I recommend that we have power outage drills if you will to help prepare us for such an event–especially in the Eastern half of the country…either a Carrington Event or an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack. I believe that these drills would help us prepare our folks and our country for the coming SHTF storm. Political correctness would prevail and these suggested drills will NOT happen unfortunately. The next best thing is to have our own power outage drills at home.

    1. I’m not sure that damage would be significantly reduced by either disconnecting from the grid or shutting the grid down entirely. It’s my understanding that a Carrington scale event would energize any circuit it reaches and the wiring in your home even disconnected from the grid would provide that. The energy is not being ‘distributed’ by the grid; the grid, no matter its scale, is receiving it the way an antenna receives broadcast signals.

    2. @ Yosef

      I agree 1000%, everyone should be doing “Lights Out” practices; people here have heard me preach this often. It’s great ‘practice’ for if/when, yes I know a weekend or a week is nothing compared to “the Big Un” but it sure will help you realize holes in your preparedness and to maybe correct and fulfil a few needs in any SHTF.

      After, is not “Practicing” part of preparing?

      NRP

  5. 2 Peter 3:10, KJV: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

    1. John Little has written a whole book about this. It’s called ‘Ezekiel’s Fire’ and is a free download from the website with the same name. Stan Deyo also talks about it in some of his lectures and may have something about it on his website.

  6. There’s a rather long but thorough examination and analysis of the impact of Carrington type events at http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/SSTA.pdf. Guess what, they even effect oil and gas pipelines. There’s even a sobering before/after pic of a transformer impacted by a MUCH smaller solar storm. Don’t read it right before bedtime.

  7. the scary thing about this is THERE IS NOTHING can be done to stop this all anyone CAN do is prepare for it and pray for the best

  8. There are just some things in this universe that are bigger than man’s ego. RIP

    I always wanted a garburator like the one the Flintstones had and of course, that foot peddle car.

    “accept the things we cannot change, and the courage to accept the things we can’t and the wisdom ……” have a good day all.

    1. @ hermit us

      I believe you meant;

      “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
      —Reinhold Niebuhr

      NRP

      1. The serenity to accept the things i cannot change and the flexibility to kiss my azz goodbye

      2. I am not trying accept the things I cannot change. I am trying to change the things I cannot accept. Angela David

  9. Funny, everyone was convinced it would take 10+ years to put the oil well fires out from the Gulf War. We did it in 18 months. Although that is a very long time to go without power we banded together and completed the task in a fraction of the time. If a major event were to occur I expect the almighty dollar will generate enough effort to have the power back on as soon as possible. Prepare for what is reasonable. Balance is how life exist.

    1. But the almighty dollar is based on electricity–electronic digits in an electric computer. There’s very little hard currency anymore. So someone is going to carry gold bullion on non-functioning planes to the facility run by electricity that makes the needed parts?

    1. Hey Nailbanger

      Captain Nemo had a great solution – you are by the sea. Start building that sub.

      1. Not really,, were at 3200′ and i try to stay away from the beach, too damn many people

  10. Many will probably be uninterested due to the magnitude of such an event – kind of like preparing for an all-out nuclear war. Might as well be in the bulls-eye right?

    As one of my many interests, I find astronomy / space to be interesting and once in awhile it escapes off my fingertips as I type (grin).

    1. @ Ken

      The Sun, and a little burp? Not a problem, wait around 5.5 billion years when it explodes into a Red Giant, THAT my friend will be a bad day. :-)

      The Sun, poofffff there is only one of those locally so no big deal, how about a nice friendly Asteroid or Comet?

      “NEOWISE data estimates that there are 4,700 ± 1,500 potentially hazardous asteroids with a diameter greater than 100 meters. As of 2012, an estimated 20 to 30 percent of these objects have been found. Asteroids larger than 35 meters across can pose a threat to a town or city.”

      Now talk about a Bad Day. Remember the Yucatan? And that was only 25 million years ago….

      NRP

      1. NRP
        Pooffff. That is just not right!!! Can not say the rest because it is off topic and I do not wish to set in the corner…again.

        1. @ Antique Collector

          “Again” I thought you were still in the ‘corner’ for another week or so?

          But seriously, if the Sun decides to go boom and spit a chunk of 3 million degree ‘stuff’ this way its really is going to be a very bad for most of us. Even a good sized hiccup, I do agree an even smaller magnum 5000 quake on the Sun is going to cause a very nasty CME, and fry a huge hole in the local economy, on the same hand, we again prepare for everything we can, Including a CME; personally believe that we are in more problems with NK going bonkers with an EMP, but I do invite the diversity of this article, and well written.

          So here’s a question, what differently would we do in preparation for a CME than 99% of other SHTF’s? I do agree it’s another good slice on information from Ken (Thanks Ken for another sleepless night) unfortunately if/when a massive CME hits, there is absolutely nada we can do about it, besides rebuild afterwards….

          NRP

          PS; no I don’t consider this a ‘Gloom & Doom’ article, good honest information never is.

        2. Admittedly, preparedness for such an event is Level-4 for sure. Sometimes a kick in the pants gets ‘some’ people moving…

          While I certainly do not ‘worry’ about the outliers, I do use them as motivation.

          Don’t lose sleep over it though!

  11. For those of you with a pole transformer, you can buy a long fiberglass pole and flip the disconnect to your house. Our fire departnent uses these. My guess is even flipping the main breaker may not be enough to stop such a current.

  12. The transformers used by the electric companies take between two and five years to manufacture. They have to be shipped in one piece, each large enough to be shipped on a single semi. Because of the expense very few companies keep these on hand. So even if the rest of the system is intact (rails running, planes running, payment options in place) it would take two to five years to recover at a best estimate.

    Plan on at least that long without electricity if this happens.

    1. Lauren
      You beat me to the information on the transformers. Here is a bit of additional information,, they are not made in the USA. They are constructed over seas and shipped into the states. As NAILBANGER says, you had better be limber so you can kiss your tooshie good bye.

      Dr. Arthur T Bradley Phd, has books on Amazon about EMP’s & CME’s, you might wish to take a look at what he has to offer on the subject(be sure to go through KEN’s link–so he gets a stipend).

      Books by Dr. Arthur T Bradley

    2. Howard industries builds the large transformers in Ellisville , Mississippi , the type that are used in power substations, or built at power manufacturing plants , but yes they are still built here .

  13. I live in SoCal (yeh…I know). Though the concept of an EMP/solar flare is absolutely scary as hell, the likelihood that I have to deal with a fire is an absolute. I know that sometime in the near future a fire will come roaring through this area. It would seem that SoCal burns every few years and the area I live is due. Plus, with all the rains we got during winter, we have TONS of kindling just waiting to burn.

    I have our family bug out bag ready and the to-do list in the event of a fire and we have to evacuate. I never allow the gas tank to fall below a quarter full. Fingers crossed we get through this fire season safely.

    1. I was in the San Diego area in 1970 when S Cal pretty much was all on fire. Scary and awesome at the same time to see flames that appear 100ft tall and your several miles away.

      1. I remember that fire clearly. It burned to within 80feet of my house! Was told to evacuate so I got everything of importance off property including dogs. Then I came back and saturated the property and roof. My car was ready to go at a moments notice. I took pictures from the roof top and you could see fire 270 degrees around. Earlier in the day I watch how quickly fire spreads. There is no way you could out run it on dirt roads.

        1. I had some relatives that lived out towards Jamul(?) at the time it was out in the boonies. The got no warning at – fire came over the hill and of the few houses that were there it was hit/miss if you got burned out or not.

  14. Ken, I believe this book is a possible solution to this article:

    Surviving Off Off-Grid: Decolonizing the Industrial Mind

    If you can live without electricity you won’t miss it much when it is gone. My parents and grandparents lived without it. And so can I. Just remember to take baby steps. I still have a few electrical items and a generator but I only use them after I’ve already done the same or similar project without them. Other than that I’m all off off grid.

    1. thank you Grit

      looks like a good book to get into on rainy summer days when I can’t get into my muddy garden.

      :)

  15. FIRE

    It is the dreaded word around this household, when you have been totally wiped out by a wild fire….not pretty.

    Terrifying is only word I could used to describe what the Carrington Event would do to this nation. Think of every small appliance you have in your home that has a motors in it, the more powerful, the more dangerous it could become. Which I had not considered until Ken brought it my attention.

    Our transformer is over 200 feet from the house which is located on the private road. The electrical lines from it run under ground, are we safe, doubt it. We are the only home in this area that put our lines under ground but for aesthetic reasons & keeping PG&E OFF the property for repairs.

    Each time Costco has a sale on the large extinguishers, I try to add them to the stock pile. We have one for the kitchen, and the others are being placed in the building around the property and one for each vehicle. A worth while idea when, & if,, a vehicle catches on fire(over heating from A/C’s), you may be the only one with a extinguisher handy before the fire department arrives, or does not. jic

    1. Have a friend in S Fla who came upon a truck with an engine fire. He brought out his extinguisher and put out the flames. Than the guy tried to cheap out and not give my friend 10 dollars to refill it. The fire company came along and made the guy pony up. Some people can be so cheap. To all, stay cool in this heatwave.

  16. @BigBadCat,

    I’ve work visited your general area, Coeur d’Alene, did get populated over the years around that area. Always flew into Spokane then drove over. I checked a quake area map and Coeur d’Alene and Spokane felt it. Glad it was not anything greater, or a CME (to kinda/sorta attempt to stay on subject, at least I didn’t include TP in this post).

    1. @ Grey

      YA do know by saying you did not include something is including it…… right?

      And yes, if we have a MAJOR CME event, ya had best be well supplied in the item not mentioned. Cause its sure going to scare the heck out of ya.

      Can ya just imagine within minutes everything you have around you either not working or bursting into flames? And seriously, even if no Grid, what a mess it’s going to make.

      NRP

      PS; @ BigBadCat; well over 1000 earthquakes in the last week….. Makes ya wonder.

      1. @NRP, well..ya. CME, once realizing what happened would definitely be a “stress” event…fire would just add to the general excitement.

  17. Don’t forget that fire extinguishers have to be pressurized once
    a year.

    If it takes light from the moon 8 minutes to reach earth then a CME
    should allow more time for something from the sun to reach us right?
    I mean, not just the pros but the real interested amateurs who actually
    help the pros because they spend hours looking at the sky.

    And then, to avoid panic, would the government tell us that there was
    a possible CME on the way? Anyway, if there’s any warming at all this
    is the time to either top off the gas immediately or know where the
    closest open box store is to get your fire extinguishers pronto.

    Just a thought.

    1. @ Ladywest

      Actually it takes light about 8 minutes to reach Earth from the Sun, not the Moon

      “Light travels through space at just over 186,000 miles per second. The moon is just under 250,000 miles from Earth, so light from the Moon’s surface has to travel more than one second (about 1.3 seconds) to reach us”

      “Sunlight travels at the speed of light. Photons emitted from the surface of the Sun need to travel across the vacuum of space to reach our eyes. The short answer is that it takes sunlight an average of 8 minutes and 20 seconds to travel from the Sun to the Earth”

      NRP

      1. A CME is much much slower and it may actually take days to reach the Earth.

    2. @ Ladywest

      BUT!!!! I will add;

      “A coronal mass ejection can make the 93-million-mile journey to Earth in just three to four days. This implies an average speed of about one million miles per hour.”

      So yes you are correct, we should have a few days warning, if someone is paying attention.

      Good observation on a little extra time.

      NRP

      1. NRP

        Sure, our government is going to tell us a few days in advance, NOT They will be too busy trying to save their own a**es and will not want to panic the sheeple.

    3. Ladywest & NRP

      Look up SOLARHAM.COM for the current events for the Sun. Found this site a few years ago, it does give you a heads up on what the sun is doing an the solar winds.

    4. FYI, most extinguishers DO NOT require recharging every year.

      So when DO they require recharging??

      -Immediately after use. Even if only partially discharged.

      -A partial discharge will usually disrupt the pressure seal and allow the remaining expellant gas charge to escape. If so, the extinguisher will be useless until it is properly recharged.

      -If damaged and the repair requires that the extinguisher be discharged and dis-assembled.

      -When it is time for a code or manufacturer-required maintenance procedure.

      1. For most portable ABC dry chemical fire extinguishers, it is cheaper to buy a new one than have one recharged.

  18. Whether it is the Sun CME, or a large EMP attack, such an event will simply mean the end of Mankind, period. It does not matter what you do, what you have, what you know. Such and event dooms everyone on Earth. It does not matter if you are in a submarine, hiding under the ice cap, or in a deep cave. Such locations just mean you get to die later than most. How many radioactive storage areas are there, which need constant cooling? How many reactors, are there which were not shut down at the time, which no longer have cooling at all? How long before fuel rods, active & spent, start to get hot? Before cooling ponds dry? Before containment vessels dry? If we did not have all that radioactive stuff, Mankind might be able to survive a massive reduction in their numbers, and rebuild. But, it cannot survive all sorts of the radioactive volcanoes popping up all over the place, and spewing every known isotope into the sky. A big enough event means the death of this world, making it inhabitable for hundreds of thousands of years.

    This said, I do not worry about it. There is no benefit in doing so. Prep for the disasters you may actually survive. Another 1850’s Sun blast is not one of these.

    1. I was on a government team, which would respond to a plant going LOCA, and trained in decontamination. I know very well what goes on. I imagine it is you, who has little idea of what happens when all the plant controls go dark, the reactor is not scrammed, and there is loss of all pumps and coolant. When there are no backup pumps that work, no cameras that work, no lights inside the plant that work, no electric locks that work, no telephones that work, no radios that work, and all the employees stumble out of their dark holes and run away, as their cars will not work.

      1. Ision, Australia has no nuke power stations exceptin pissy little Lucas heights, They, Gov’t talk about it – nope, never happenen. were goin renewables and govt here just loves pumped hydro. And regular power outages are norm here in Aussie anyways – seriously its fun when it happens, I’m not talken cities though. Most country people could live in a cave anyways. And fire, well our bloody bush needs it constantly for its survival, thrives on it in fact. and all the animals and country people (especially Locals) have come to terms with this! Except when burnt to a crisp for being to slow, and not thinkin on your feet, and surviving 45 D Celsius – temps at the same time. God bless aboriginal firestick farming. Our trees are full of eucalyptus oil so livin in our bush is same as livin in a frypan on fire all the time. Plus I live in a magnetite rich area 500 metres up in a valley with a good cave system nearby. Magnetite rich areas are localised magnetospheres and my area can cope with a solar blast bigger than the Carrington one. 1800 nt, Carrington was around 1300nt give or take a few hundred nt. And my area’s known as the horse capital of Australia, Yeah, horsy Town I call it, full of horsy girls. And worse still, coal is bloody everywhere, and everyone is into agriculture – and massive Govt rebated watertanks, where I am. Funny enough, no one is into survival though where I live. We don’t need to be, as we do it anyway, without thinkin about it. And if you don’t vote national (farmers -rural- party) then your’e a second rate citizen or worse. Therel always be some bunch of clowns, that survive somewhere thatl hardly notice a bloody difference when the SHTF, and yes therel be a bunch of sanguinely sardonic Aussies – that the flat earther’s don’t believe exist anyways – definetly in the mix. Everything is truly upside down in our part of the world, and on a very different trajectory as it should be, and we have more bushfoods than the rest of the earth combined, Aren’t we Lucky. Very Hardy place – Aussie. Thanks to the aboriginals. And Aussie land does exist, as I am lookin at my place on google earth. he he. Mad Max.

  19. Ken, I think we need an article on fire extinguishers. For me, I would like to know in particular if it is best to buy them at a local hardware store where they can be serviced or to just order on Amazon.

    Also, how long or what area will the different sized extinguishers be active for? How far back from a fire can you be before it doesn’t reach the flame? What types of fire will it extinguish?

    Lots to learn, as usual, before making a purchase or upgrading.

    Stay frosty.

      1. KJ

        Great article. If the next article is on fire extinguishers, please cover “D” class fire.

        There are fires that when they get how enough, that can heat the water to the point that it can break down the water molecule and use the O2 and H to feed itself. Think metal fires and how to put them out. Simple car fire can do you in.

        Fire is going to catch plenty of people flatfooted.

    1. Just realized i don’t have one any more. Just shows even a CME topic can get the marbles to work on what is needed.

  20. This is why I never use the telegraph anymore! Told the wife to stay off it but she never pays me no mind.

  21. This article really makes me think beyond what I’ve known about CMEs. However, to me, the probability of an EMP created by the NoKo dictator is more worrisome than a large solar event.

    Fire, though, is terrifying. And the probability of a large fire, no matter the origin, is a dangerous, even a disasterous, event that is much higher on my worry-wart scale. We are about 200 feet from the woods in our property and the property of all neighbors to the back. We aren’t far from a National Forest. With the homes behind us, ours is the only house that is not actually IN the woods. To our left and right are pastures, but to our front are mixes of both pastures and then thick woods for miles. All it would take is one fire, no matter the cause.

    Two homes have burnt to the ground since I’ve lived here — both were chimney fires (Hint — do yearly cleanouts!). And there have also been 2 deadly propane explosions at private residences, both within 2 miles (one of them we heard around 5am one morning and our windows rattled).

    Our best prevention is our 1,000 gallon water tank up close to the house but it’s a gravity tank and could only realistically be used for a fire if the fire department came w/ their pressurized equipment.

    We have fire extinguishers at specific locations around the home, also one at the front of the barn. A small fire we could handle — but only if we caught it early. We heat with wood and take the threat of fire seriously…especially considering the fast damage that can be done before a fire department were to arrive (and IF they were to arrive). In the past, I practiced fire drills with the boys and have done several fire drills with our granddaughter. Kids need to actually walk-through the drill so that it will be remembered in a time of excitable fear.

    Ken is reading our minds because he posted a link to a fire extinguisher bundle which is on our August ‘buy this’ list. We do not carry extinguishers in our vehicles. Is it wise to do this? What about the hot/cold temperature fluctuations? How would/might that affect the performance of an extinguisher?

    1. M.T. Hot/cold temps don’t affect a good quality fire extinguisher. Look at all of the Commercial trucks that have them inside, or all of the tow trucks that have them mounted on the outside of the vehicle. Once a month you need to take the fire extinguisher out of the mount, turn it upside down and hit the bottom with a rubber hammer a couple times so the “agent” inside does not settle/cake up, and you need to take it in once a year for service.

      I used to work for a company that sold/serviced “safety equipment” (fire extinguishers, hard hats, fire hose and other equipment).

  22. I check “spaceweather.com” every morning.I’m pretty sure if there was an CME,it would show up on that sight.I don’t know,maybe not.But then maybe.Duh.Anyway,would a EMP cause the same effect as a CME?Or just a grid down effect?Either way,I’ll still check my fire extinguishers.And someone up above mentioned T.P. I’ll check that too!

    1. I also check in with spaceweather.com

      A CME and EMP have different (but also similar) effects. Hows that for an answer?

      The short answer is a CME is long lasting and EMP is very short.

      Related: 5 Nanoseconds To Lights Out

      A long lasting CME, if powerful enough (e.g. Carrington Event) will cause massive damage to our electrics and power grid. Fortunately most all CME’s that hit Earth are not strong enough to do that!

      EMP is typically referenced to a weaponized event such as a nuclear explosion up in the atmosphere which theoretically instantly ‘zaps’ electronic circuits.

  23. This is why you have to be concerned about telluric earth currents. Grounding will not dissipate stray electrical potentials, but actually create differential potentials. Large fuses would be preferred over circuit breakers for field isolation for quenching and shunt dissipation resistors for energy dissipation on the household side. Ground isolation takes on a whole new meaning when the ground must be fused -> open and shunt dissipated. – Consider the fireball extinguisher protection of your fuse box.

  24. Every home should have enough garden hose to reach around the entire outside of the house…

  25. Thanks, Ken for the fantastic write-up of this article (and of course the hat tip)! As always, you have given us so much to think about. I appreciate everyone’s great discussion too, your comments are so helpful in getting the brain synapses firing.

  26. With the weakening of the earths magnetic field, perhaps just a significant CME storm would be all that it takes to disrupt electrical systems instead of superstorm Carrington event.

  27. Hi all, I’m an Aussie from down under, yeah we exist – don’t believe the Flat Earther’s, Just go to the ocean, and put a ruler up, and that will tell you how flat the earth is, Any ocean anywhere that is. Noticed here there is a great deal of fear regarding solar flares, simple – do what I did in Aussie land, Get a magnetite map online for Aussie or state of NSW, or for you lot – North America. Magnetite rich areas 1800nt plus are best areas regions to live in especially the plus ones – usually depicted as a purpely white colour. Magnetite regions are plentiful in north America, and then migrate, and live in the smack middle of one of these regions, if your not already in one. Preferably in a region that has magnetite close to the earths surface, Loadstone rich regions are a dead giveaway for this. Magnetite acts like a localised miniature magnetosphere, and can very much help cancel out solar flares – Carrington size easily – 1300nt give or take hundreds of nt. Also Good for if, and when, the Earths magnetosphere is weakening as every solar flare will be a big one, if this happens, and big solar flares will be colossal, and I thinks its happening. Really check this out – WEBSITE – Live science-Earths Magnetic Cocoon Mapped In Extreme Detail, very informative. With a Magnetic pole reversal, the Military jets should be following these magnetite belts hugging the terrain, as they, “magnetite belts” can go a long way. military already use magnetite on their buildings mixed in concrete to prevent EMP blasts penetrating buildings. Come on how hard is it. Or do you want to become like poms, wingers? Hmm. Lastly, it must be understood, that if we are in fact, in a weakening magnetosphere, then even the little solar flares are going to really be big ones, and the big ones huge, This will be interesting to survive, like a tidal wave slamming into your area, you re-build and recover, and another one hits – time and time again, So be in a safe magnetite rich zone especially if the magnetosphere is weakening, or even wandering, as it does every number of millennia. Pity we constructed our whole way of life around non hardened electronics, coming into a possible magnetic wandering or reversal. few other tips, off grid is better, and if you must be on grid, be at the end of it, not in the main city area, and don’t be too far north, or south, as solar flares impact worse here. If I was in North America, I would aim for magnetite rich areas around Tennessee or Oklahoma, or Arkansas. And by the way, NASA has been mapping out magnetite rich areas on the Moon, and mars, and think it best that colonists will survive best in these regions, as there are no magnetospheres there to protect us, only small localised ones, that is better than nothing I suppose, for astronauts and colonists. Mad Max.

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