EMP Threat

Electromagnetic pulses (EMP) are a pulse of energy typically found during a nuclear explosion. This pulse destroys anything electrical by overloading the circuits with energy and frying the devices. EMPs can be a serious threat to our country. So much so that our government assessed the impact an EMP blast would have on our nation by appointing a commission in 2008. The results can be found HERE. A nuclear blast miles above America is all that is necessary to wipe out a majority of the infrastructure and result in a 70-90% loss of life within the first year after an attack.

So who would explode a nuclear bomb above the United States? I believe North Korea is a considerable threat within the next 5 years. North Korea continues to test missile technology under the guise of launching satellites. The scary part about their cover is the potential to launch a nuclear missile from a satellite instead of from Earth (most likely outside the range of our missile defense system). The nuclear explosion could be well outside of the Earth's atmosphere, up to 300 miles away according to the commission report and cause significant damage.

Preparing for an EMP is like preparing for the worse case scenario. Every electronic will most likely be destroyed from the blast. That means no electric, no water, no cars, no generators, no flashlights, no batteries, no radios, etc. If it runs on electric, you won't have it. On the positive side, being prepared for the worst means you are prepared for everything else.

What's worse? Our country in not prepared for such an attack. No government could respond fast enough and restore power as necessary. Restoration would take months into years. Imagine the loss of life as hospitals are without power because the generators are fried. Mobs will form within days as hunger begins to set in.If you want to read a chilling account of what may happen, then read One Second After

Faraday cages are believed to be one way to protect your electronics from such an attack. However, there isn't much research on the subject because you need a nuclear explosion in order to test the hypothesis. There are many plans on how to build a faraday cage so just Google it if you are interested in building your own. I believe it is better to be safe than sorry so I will be beginning my project very soon.

Remember, preparing for an EMP attack means you will be prepared for any other disaster.