As I write this a Solar Superstorm is barreling through space toward our planet. It should arrive sometime tonight or tomorrow. Its effects could be catastrophic. In 1859 a severe solar flare caused the newly laid Trans-Atlantic telegraph cable to fail due to damaged relay stations far below the surface of the ocean. The cable was rendered useless until it was raised, the relays replaced, and the cable relaid. This was known as the “Carrington Event”.
In more recent times severe blackouts occurred in this country when a solar flare-induced failure of the electrical power grid in Northern Canada caused a cascading failure of the interconnected power grid system as far south as Baltimore. Our electrical grid is much more vulnerable now than it was in the late 1960s.
In addition, we are much more dependent on satellite-based communication and GPS navigation systems. In my 2020 book, “The Water Lily Warriors”, I describe what might happen if an EMP device was detonated simultaneously with a strong series of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). It would cause chaos and societal breakdown on an unbelievable scale. A Congressional Committee authorized a study about the threat of EMPs to our nation which was published in April 2008. It concluded that in a worst-case scenario over ninety percent of Americans would be dead within a year.
Unfortunately, the Obama administration had other priorities and basically ignored the report's findings. “Fundamentally Transforming America” apparently didn’t include protecting vital infrastructure.
Sunspots and the CMEs they produce happen on a cyclical basis. The current cycle will peak in July 2025, with many serious events prior to that time. Then they will slowly taper off. The fact that many nations now have, or shortly will have the capacity to produce an EMP weapon makes this threat all the more worrisome. It is almost too late to harden our electrical grid against EMP or cyber attacks, but we nevertheless must try. Our survival as a nation may depend on it.