The Inevitable Threat: Electromagnetic Pulse and Coronal Mass Ejection
There is a grave threat to our survival that is very rarely mentioned by the media, and thus far has garnered very little action by the government or private actors. A Commission to Congress has said that it is likely to kill 90% of the US population within a year of it happening. NASA says that it is inevitable and that it will very likely happen in our lifetimes. This threat can be natural, in the form of a large solar flare or coronal mass ejection (CME), or it can be man-made, in the form of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). These occur when a large electromagnetic field impacts the Earth’s atmosphere. Energetic particles, such as gamma rays interact with the atmosphere, creating positive ions and Compton electrons which generates a geomagnetic storm, or a disruption in the Earth’s magnetic field. In 1859, a massive CME called the Carrington Event occured. The sun ejected plasma, and its associated magnetic field which was hurled directly at the Earth. This creates a g