Why The Shutdown?

[gunslinger3]

Hope this hasn't been asked before. I am halfway through Resurrecting Home and can't for the life of me remember what caused the loss of power. Was it every told and any of the series?

[AD]

A CME(Coronal Mass Ejection)...... Or so everyone thinks

Book 1

[W.Lynn]

You find out when, or if, the character does. It's frustrating, but more realistic that way.

[MillenniumMan]

Obama found the light switch behind the painting of Clinton marked "Country" and decided "Eh, what the hell?"

[AD]

Obama found the light switch behind the painting of Clinton marked "Country" and decided "Eh, what the hell?"

Good to have you back.......WTF am I saying????

[MillenniumMan]

Good to have you back.......WTF am I saying????

[Hobes]

from what I recall, it was a theoretical CME, but an EMP was more likely. much talk about the CME, therefore easier to throw an EMP to mess the country up.

[Murphy]

I read all the books twice.

It was caused by a CME that was then used as cover for an EMP.

A CME wouldn't cause problems with small electronics like cell phones or radios, but an EMP sure would. In the books, I think they mentioned that the news media were talking about a CME all week and when it hit, someone launched a nuclear weapon to create an EMP on top of it.

I've been reading EMP books for the past two months so its possible I have mixed up one plot with another, but I think I'm right.. it was in the Going Home series, maybe book two or three?

[Murphy]

If I recall, it was an Nuclear EMP and a CME.
Didn't they say the news media had been talking about the sun for a week or so before hand? And then, when the CME hit, someone launched an nuclear bomb above the atmosphere to finish us off.

Well, in any case, there must have been a nuclear detonation in there somewhere because a CME won't damage small electronics or cars that aren't physically connected to the grid.

A CME is the E3 part of the pulse and its very slow and can last for many minutes. Because of the way a CME interacts with our magnetic field, the EMP is only about 1 volt per meter of conductive surface. For things plugged into the grid, this is huge because that 1 volt per meter adds up on the transmission lines fast.

A nuclear EMP is the E1 part of the pulse. Its very fast and lasts for only a nanosecond, but it induces up to 50,000 volts per meter. This high voltage is what kills laptops and cell phones even though they aren't connected to the grid. This is the pulse that stops cars.

If an E3 (CME) hit us and you were driving down the road, the only thing you might notice is that your radio might get some static... that's about it

[WhiteBear620]

If I recall, it was an Nuclear EMP and a CME.
Didn't they say the news media had been talking about the sun for a week or so before hand? And then, when the CME hit, someone launched an nuclear bomb above the atmosphere to finish us off.

Well, in any case, there must have been a nuclear detonation in there somewhere because a CME won't damage small electronics or cars that aren't physically connected to the grid.

A CME is the E3 part of the pulse and its very slow and can last for many minutes. Because of the way a CME interacts with our magnetic field, the EMP is only about 1 volt per meter of conductive surface. For things plugged into the grid, this is huge because that 1 volt per meter adds up on the transmission lines fast.

A nuclear EMP is the E1 part of the pulse. Its very fast and lasts for only a nanosecond, but it induces up to 50,000 volts per meter. This high voltage is what kills laptops and cell phones even though they aren't connected to the grid. This is the pulse that stops cars.

If an E3 (CME) hit us and you were driving down the road, the only thing you might notice is that your radio might get some static... that's about it

It's very interesting, the differences between a CME and EMP weapons.
Granted, I know that there's a million EMP books out there, but it'd be interesting to see what it would be like if it was just a CME and not an EMP at all. No power at homes and such, but everyone's able to drive home and then drive around for as long as gas lasts.

[Boston_Joe]

While not a CME/EMP story the "Holding Their Own" series by Joe Nobody has a theme of limited resources and working vehicles. Bobby Akart's "Blackout" series is a CME, but it's a massive one that takes everything out.

[Murphy]

It's very interesting, the differences between a CME and EMP weapons.
Granted, I know that there's a million EMP books out there, but it'd be interesting to see what it would be like if it was just a CME and not an EMP at all. No power at homes and such, but everyone's able to drive home and then drive around for as long as gas lasts.

There are some big differences. A nuclear EMP will knock out your electronics but its not likely to do much more than that at a residential level. A CME however is a different animal and can burn down your home by over heating the electrical systems connected to the grid. Its not a certainty, but it can happen. This is why I have 9 commercial sized fire extinguishers in my home. Imagine you have a fan running at 120 volts and then all of a sudden, the voltage is increased to 160, 180, 250, 400, 1000, and keeps climbing over the course of several minutes. That's how a CME works. The motor coils in the fan get a higher voltage that causes the fan to speed up, causes the motor to heat up, eventually the windings break down and arc sending sparks to your carpet. The same thing will happen with your light bulbs, toaster, washing machine(s), etc.

Whereas, with an EMP, the voltage feeding the fan goes from 120 to 100,000 and then to zero within 1 billionth of a second. Its not enough time to allow motor windings to heat up, but its enough voltage to fry any microcircuit or transistor.

A Walmart surge protector can protect you from a CME but it can not protect you from an EMP. The EMP is just too fast for the consumer grade surge protectors to respond to.

The long term ramifications of both events have their pro's and con's and if you think about it carefully, its difficult to pick one if you had the fantasy land choice. With an EMP, its local, it destroys everything and leaves a localized region (like the USA) vulnerable. An EMP will destroy solar systems, wind turbines, hospital equipment, aircraft electronics, cell phones, etc. There may not be an unprotected computer left running.
On the up side, an EMP is only localized and while it could allow our enemies an opportunity, it could also allow our friends to help us. An EMP is unlikely to start fires, and since an EMP is localized, and since most electronics are made outside the USA, replacements would come quickly.

With a CME, its global. Everyone is in the same boat and will suffer the same damage. There won't be anyone left untouched to provide aid or help. But on the positive side, a CME won't destroy all the solar systems or other small scale power generating equipment, it won't destroy hospital equipment like cardiac monitors or surgical equipment if they're unplugged or protected with surge protectors..... and the best part of a CME is that IT WON'T BE A SURPRISE. NASA will know a large CME is heading our way hours before it hits and could alert everyone. Simply flipping the main breaker off in your home would be enough to protect everything and cars will still run.

Both will result in large scale population reductions for the affected areas and both will result in a change of life for five to ten years or more.

[Cwi555]

Thought about it, but no. Just too damn tired.

[WhiteBear620]

To be really frank about it, I wouldn't expect any legitimate help to the US in the event of an EMP.
Everything comes at a cost, I doubt the "allies" will be helping us without looking to get something out of it, simply because of the massive size that this problem could be. Also, many of the people we consider allies do not have the same ideas of liberty and freedom we have, lots of FEMA camp setups probably where at least your 1st, 2nd, 4th amendment rights will be violated. That will happen any ways with FEMA camps, but I wouldn't expect it all to be voluntarily at all.
And, in the event that we are hit by an EMP and do not immediately respond with an EMP to possible threats (I'm not advocating attacking other countries unprovoked, it's just a possibility) to try to level the playing field, we could expect China at least to make a landing on the west coast. Cartels may or may not be a problem in the south west.
Of course, there's also the chaos that would happen, so any help coming would probably be struggling with millions of angry, hungry, tired, and sick people.

[airdrop]

From what I read as the earths magnetic shield weakens it might not take a very strong CME to kick our butts , isn't that special .