White House Preparing for Catastrophic Solar Flares
'THIS IS A REAL AND PRESENT DANGER'
By Michael Harthorne, Newser Staff
newser.com
Posted Oct 30, 2015 5:23 PM CDT
(NEWSER) – If a giant solar flare hit the Earth, it could knock out the entire power grid, meaning no more new Taylor Swift singles, no more televised presidential debates, and no more Facebook photos of babies. But it wouldn't be all good news. The Washington Post reports the elecromagnetic pulse—or EMP—created by such an event could wipe out electricity for months on end, creating a global catastrophe. That's why the White House released its National Space Weather Strategy on Thursday. According to the Houston Chronicle, the multiagency plan details how the US will prepare for—and deal with—a massive EMP from space. The six-step plan requires government agencies, schools, the media, the insurance industry, nonprofits, and more to work together. In other words: We might be doomed.
“This is a real and present danger," the White House's assistant director for space weather tells the Post. Back in 1859, the sun whacked the Earth with a large EMP. At the time, it only caused some sparking telegraph lines, but the National Academy of Sciences says something like that today could have a $2 trillion economic impact. Something like that almost did happen in 2012, when NASA says we were nearly missed by two large plasma clouds. “If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces,” one physicist says. The White House's new plan calls for the US to get better at predicting space weather, shore up our infrastructure against EMPs, and more, the Chroniclereports. According to the Post, the plan isn't a moment too soon, as NASA states there's a 12% chance of a giant solar flare in the next 10 years. (Escape doomsday in a luxury missile silo.) |
