Don’t Let the Lights Go Out: Defend Against EMP

Jessica Zuckerman / May 24, 2010

We’ve been warned. In 2004, the Commission to Assess the Threat of the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) reported that “EMP is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences.” Yet, Congress has done next to nothing to protect the U.S. from an EMP attack.

As my colleague, Baker Spring explains an EMP can occur when a nuclear weapon is detonated high in the atmosphere above the Earth. The resulting explosion interacts with the Earth’s magnetic fields, sending a pulse, or current, throughout all electrical systems. Nearly everything we depend on from day to day would be affected. Imagine a world without computers, ATMS, cell phones, water systems, the internet, ambulances and even cars. The U.S. would essentially be knocked back to the 19th century. (more…)