About a month ago, I wrote a little piece on CMEs-Coronal Mass Ejections. They’re one of those things that don’t make a big difference on Earth often enough and so are pretty much ignored by the public-until satellites fail or the grid goes down.
In that piece, I noted an article that said we were underestimating the damage that CMEs could cause, and that there was a new worst-case scenario-two CMEs, back to back. One clears the path for the other, like the offensive line opening a hole for the running back.
It seems we’ve had exactly that happen, and it happened on March 13, 1989-the failure of the Hydro-Quebec grid that caused a blackout that left millions in the dark.
I’m not saying we need to panic and run buy up all the EMP-proof trashcans. (I’m not convinced that the concept would even work. But it’s yet another thing to bear in mind.
Freeholder: While I’m sure you’re aware of The Silicon Graybeard’s EMP posts, others might not know of the series, so here ’tis
https://thesilicongraybeard.blogspot.com/p/old-graybeard-looks-at-emp-series.html
I figure a ham will know some stuff and a retired radio receiver designer will know a bunch more; SiG is a twofer.
Also, for the life of me, I can’t understand why I should protect my garbage from an EMP. 🙂