The 2012 Newsletter - Get It Here
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US Grid Concerns Continue

September 1st, 2010 by Robert Bast | No Comments | Filed in power grid, sun

One of the leading voices in the 2012 Doomsday field, Lawrence Joseph, has focussed on the potential for the next solar cycle peak to wreak havoc on electrical grids worldwide, but especially in the USA. The reasons the USA is singled out are:

  • their grid is antiquated
  • their grid is overloaded

Even without the Sun being a factor, the USA power grid can still easily have a cascading blackout. The concerns have been acknowledged by the US government, and bodies like NASA. Some books and articles have pointed out how catastrophic a nationwide outage could be. Basically, if the grid has failed in many locations, repairing it could take up to 6 months. That’s 6 months without electricity that runs hospitals, pumps water, runs gas stations, and powers heating and air conditioning. It is quite likely that millions would die.

While President Obama is supposedly committed to upgrading the US grid, in reality it looks like any upgrades are in limbo. Could the USA make the same mistake as they did with New Orleans, the same lack of sensible preparations?

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, from Maryland, posted this on his website, regarding a Senate decision earlier this month:

“It is unfortunate that while one part of the federal government was warning us of possible solar electromagnetic pulse (EMP) damage to our electric grid, a key Senate Committee approved a bill to ignore this threat.  It’s particularly ironic since the Senate amended a bill, H.R. 5026, approved unanimously by the House that would specifically protect the grid against solar EMP and other physical threats.”

More on this can be read at WorldNetDaily

Space Storm Alert

April 20th, 2009 by Rob | 2 Comments | Filed in nasa, power grid, space storm

It is midnight on 22 September 2012 and the skies above Manhattan are filled with a flickering curtain of colourful light. Few New Yorkers have seen the aurora this far south but their fascination is short-lived. Within a few seconds, electric bulbs dim and flicker, then become unusually bright for a fleeting moment. Then all the lights in the state go out. Within 90 seconds, the entire eastern half of the US is without power.

A year later and millions of Americans are dead and the nation’s infrastructure lies in tatters. The World Bank declares America a developing nation. Europe, Scandinavia, China and Japan are also struggling to recover from the same fateful event – a violent storm, 150 million kilometres away on the surface of the sun.

Rather catastrophic stuff for a New Scientist article! However the reason they are reporting it is because the threat is very real indeed. They are referring to the same NASA report I mentioned in early March, that highlights the current scenario – overloaded, out-dated power grids, and a sun that from time to time sends storms our way. Put the two together, and add in our extreme dependence on electricity, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Although it could happen at any time, the peak of the solar cycle offers up more opportunity, hence the 2012 date in the scenario quoted above.

Fortunately on a personal level, this is one disaster that you can survive by having a backup power supply, and plenty of food and water available. Folks in the countryside will have it easier, if they are prepared.

To me it is extraordinary that the USA isn’t doing everything in their power to upgrade their power grid today. Could they get caught out, due to lack of sensible preparation and precaution, like with Katrina??