The threat posed by EMPs is far from settled, though. Pry said the EMP Commission estimated it would cost $2 billion to $4 billion to protect the most important pieces of equipment in the national grid, but ideally, he would like to see standards changed so that EMP protection is built into devices. These technologies would have to be adapted to deal with higher voltages, but devices such as surge protectors, which divert excess voltage into the Earth, or Faraday cages, which shield devices from electromagnetic radiation, could do the job. The technology required to protect against EMPs is similar to what is already used to prevent damage from power surges caused by lightning, Pry said. "We've arrived at a place where a single individual can topple the technological pillars of civilization for a major metropolitan area all by himself armed with some device like this," he said. Called the Counter-Electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP), it can be used to target specific enemy facilities, and Pry said it would be within the capabilities of many militaries, or even terrorist groups, to build an EMP generator. military has a cruise missile carrying an EMP generator. "The EMP would pass harmlessly through your body."Ī small EMP with a radius of under a kilometer can also be generated by combining high-voltage power sources with antennas that release this energy as electromagnetic waves. ![]() "If you were standing on the ground directly beneath the detonation, you wouldn't even hear it go off," Pry said. The explosion and radiation from the bomb would dissipate before reaching ground level, but the resulting EMP would be powerful enough to destroy electronics across the region, Pry said. ![]() could create an EMP that would cover most of North America, Pry said. Setting off a nuclear weapon about 200 miles (300 kilometers) above the U.S. The explosion could also distort Earth's magnetic field, causing a slower pulse similar to a naturally occuring EMP. These charge-carrying electrons would be corralled by Earth's magnetic field, and as they zipped around, they would generate a powerful, fluctuating electric current, which, in turn, would generate a massive EMP. If a nuclear weapon were to be detonated high in the atmosphere, Pry said, the gamma radiation it would release could strip electrons from air molecules and accelerate them at close to the speed of light. Then, there's the possibility of deliberate EMPs. The last time this happened was in 1859 in the so-called Carrington Event, and while electronics were still rare then, it knocked out much of the recently built telegraph network. But when the sun spits out enough plasma at once, the impact can cause the magnetic field to wobble and generate a powerful EMP. Natural EMPs occur when the sun occasionally spits out massive streams of plasma, and if they come our way, Earth's natural magnetic field can deflect them. These pulses can occur deliberately or naturally. Related: Doomsdays: Top 9 real ways the world could end ![]() With such a huge burst of energy, an EMP can cause damaging power surges in any electronics within range. Such a changing magnetic field can cause electrons in a nearby wire to move, thereby inducing a current. An EMP releases huge waves of electromagnetic energy, which can act like a giant moving magnet.
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