Cats, Toilet Paper And Shotgun Shells
Life without electricity. This essay proposes what will happen if a powerful solar event fries the grid but it can easily describe the aftermath of any number of current scenarios that severs the extremely vulnerable and interconnected web of modern life.
I don't want to sound pedantic but unsustainability has always been in the back of my mind for around thirty years, and it colors my perception of everything I experience. I don't blame most people for their cluelessness in taking things for granted, because after all we're bombarded constantly with incessant propaganda to rely on goods and services that will disappear in a heartbeat if just a few things go awry.
Just two events if I may. One thing will always stick with me about what the fascists did to us on 9/11. Manhattan was a murderous mess, their shock and awe was traumatic and life as urbanites collapsed. One thing that happened was that all transportation ceased which meant that the hundreds of thousands of commuters, if they chose to go home, walked. Manhattan, after all, is an island. I'll never forget the immense stream of people walking over the bridges however many miles it was to get back home. Nothing else I can remember seared into my brain the necessity to face the prospect and be prepared to be stranded whenever I walk out my door.
Six or seven years ago in a northwest town that usually doesn't experience it, a big cold front swept through. Lots of snow, over a foot. Early afternoon the power went out and it was still coming down. I climbed in my 4x4 and drove around town. This was a novelty you see, and lots of people were out sledding and building snowmen and there was hardly any traffic because it was so deep and tough to drive. Then the sun went down. All those people went back inside their houses and I swear you could feel the shock as thousands quickly realized that there they were, cold and wet, in the dark, and the temperature was dropping rapidly. Sorry Jeremy and Heather, no pizza and no TV for the next three days.
Hardly a soul was outside until the juice was restored later that week.
Some people are getting a bit twitchy about what's happening these days but figure it's merely an abberation, somewhat less numbers are stockpiling some stuff, but I think very few people are willing to take a sober and hard look at what they'd do if there was cessation of society as we know it.
Cats will be treasured for the four legged vermin, ammunition will be needed for the two legged variety and toilet paper, well, you know.
No Electricity And Its 5000 BC
"This could come in perhaps two or three years, or even sooner. This is about a future with no electricity. Such a disaster can quickly happen anytime after the Sun generates a coronal mass ejection (commonly known as a CME) in the direction of Earth. A CME is the product of an X class solar flare as solar material leaves the sun, and does not loop back into the Sun as it does an M class flare.
A CME is a momentary event, which will have extremely negative effects lasting for a century or more on Earth. We'll explore what will happen in detail to most aspects of life as we know it. Some parts of this article will be graphic in nature.
In the 1990s a minor CME event did happen. CME solar material becomes ionizing radiation and hit the Earth's atmosphere over the area ofQuebec, Canada. For about one week the power company was unable to reset high tension power line circuit breakers to restore power. The ionizing radiation made the atmosphere so conductive that high tension power lines were arcing.
Ionizing radiation ionizes the air, making it highly conductive and shorting out the AC power to ground. All power authorities could do was to wait for the radiation to subside, which took about one week before power could be restored. We do not officially know how much of the Quebecarea's electrical system was damaged by the CME. It would also be interesting to see if there was a spike in cancer or other diseases with people who were exposed to the ionizing radiation during the event.
If a truly massive CME hits the Earth, it could for all practical purposes take out the world's electricity distribution. For all practical purposes, this would essentially be permanent."
I don't want to sound pedantic but unsustainability has always been in the back of my mind for around thirty years, and it colors my perception of everything I experience. I don't blame most people for their cluelessness in taking things for granted, because after all we're bombarded constantly with incessant propaganda to rely on goods and services that will disappear in a heartbeat if just a few things go awry.
Just two events if I may. One thing will always stick with me about what the fascists did to us on 9/11. Manhattan was a murderous mess, their shock and awe was traumatic and life as urbanites collapsed. One thing that happened was that all transportation ceased which meant that the hundreds of thousands of commuters, if they chose to go home, walked. Manhattan, after all, is an island. I'll never forget the immense stream of people walking over the bridges however many miles it was to get back home. Nothing else I can remember seared into my brain the necessity to face the prospect and be prepared to be stranded whenever I walk out my door.
Six or seven years ago in a northwest town that usually doesn't experience it, a big cold front swept through. Lots of snow, over a foot. Early afternoon the power went out and it was still coming down. I climbed in my 4x4 and drove around town. This was a novelty you see, and lots of people were out sledding and building snowmen and there was hardly any traffic because it was so deep and tough to drive. Then the sun went down. All those people went back inside their houses and I swear you could feel the shock as thousands quickly realized that there they were, cold and wet, in the dark, and the temperature was dropping rapidly. Sorry Jeremy and Heather, no pizza and no TV for the next three days.
Hardly a soul was outside until the juice was restored later that week.
Some people are getting a bit twitchy about what's happening these days but figure it's merely an abberation, somewhat less numbers are stockpiling some stuff, but I think very few people are willing to take a sober and hard look at what they'd do if there was cessation of society as we know it.
Cats will be treasured for the four legged vermin, ammunition will be needed for the two legged variety and toilet paper, well, you know.
No Electricity And Its 5000 BC
"This could come in perhaps two or three years, or even sooner. This is about a future with no electricity. Such a disaster can quickly happen anytime after the Sun generates a coronal mass ejection (commonly known as a CME) in the direction of Earth. A CME is the product of an X class solar flare as solar material leaves the sun, and does not loop back into the Sun as it does an M class flare.
A CME is a momentary event, which will have extremely negative effects lasting for a century or more on Earth. We'll explore what will happen in detail to most aspects of life as we know it. Some parts of this article will be graphic in nature.
In the 1990s a minor CME event did happen. CME solar material becomes ionizing radiation and hit the Earth's atmosphere over the area ofQuebec, Canada. For about one week the power company was unable to reset high tension power line circuit breakers to restore power. The ionizing radiation made the atmosphere so conductive that high tension power lines were arcing.
Ionizing radiation ionizes the air, making it highly conductive and shorting out the AC power to ground. All power authorities could do was to wait for the radiation to subside, which took about one week before power could be restored. We do not officially know how much of the Quebecarea's electrical system was damaged by the CME. It would also be interesting to see if there was a spike in cancer or other diseases with people who were exposed to the ionizing radiation during the event.
If a truly massive CME hits the Earth, it could for all practical purposes take out the world's electricity distribution. For all practical purposes, this would essentially be permanent."
posted by nolocontendere at 6:46 PM
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