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What Kind of Attack Can Kill 70 to 90 Percent of Americans Within One Year?
1. What Kind of Attack Can Kill 70 to 90 Percent of Americans Within One Year?
2. America is Vulnerable to An Electromagnetic Pulse Attack
3. Don’t Let a Catastrophic Disaster Leave You Stranded Miles from Nowhere
1. What Kind of Attack Can Kill 70 to 90 Percent of Americans Within One Year?
Jena McNeill
When the power goes out, what’s the first thing we do?
Grab a flashlight. Search for batteries. Light some candles. Next, we worry about what’s in the fridge. If the power outage lasts for more than four hours, hundreds of dollars in food may be wasted.
Cleaning out the fridge and replacing lost food is costly, messy and unpleasant. Fortunately, however, the lights do eventually come back on, and we can go about our daily lives. After an EMP attack, however, getting the power restored would take much, much longer.
EMP stands for electromagnetic pulse. It’s a pulse that can be used as a weapon (most likely caused by blast of a nuclear weapon in the Earth’s atmosphere), and would destroy the critical infrastructure that Americans rely on. Specifically, an EMP, under the right conditions, is extremely damaging to electronics and the electric grid -- the system that keeps those refrigerators (and the food supply) running.
Most Americans are used to fast, cheap and easy food options. McDonald’s, in fact, prides itself on a 90-second or less service time. And given our tendency to eat too much, it is odd to think about any American starving to death.
The impact of an EMP attack on America’s food supply, however, would be enormous. Food wouldn’t simply spoil, but delivering food and cooking it also would be problematic. Many Americans would struggle to survive.
You may not realize, but your grocery store carries very few foods from the local area. Strawberries
are often from Mexico, oranges from Florida, and plums from California. For those curious,Ramen Noodles are made in Richmond, Virginia.
EMP, however, would take down the equipment that makes this system function. Besides problems getting food from place to place, preparing, baking, or cooking food would be difficult for both food production companies and everyday citizens. Remember the jalapeño salmonella outbreak in 2008? One small facility in Texas caused the outbreak. Swiftly, at least 1,251 people all over the nation got sick. Preventing food-borne illnesses would be difficult without needed refrigeration or necessary heat. Read more here.
2. America is Vulnerable to An Electromagnetic Pulse Attack
Posted 06/29/2009 ET
I
f a small atomic bomb were to explode 400km above Chicago it could fry all electronically-based technology from Chicago to Dallas affecting the infrastructure of all major cities on the east coast and as far as South Dakota.
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack is as instantaneous as an atomic bomb blast. It moves like a wall of energy overloading, and destroying all computer based technology. Such an attack would shut down the power grid. Air traffic would be grounded, telephone, internet and other communications would be shut down. America would be reduced to the agricultural economy we had in the 1800s.
Despite having developed the technology to protect our infrastructure in the event of an EMP attack, this technology has not been integrated into our infrastructure – our infrastructure has not been hardened: backed up by non-computerized components yet. EMP is not a sci-fi War of the Worlds
Brief analysis shows that our computerized, electronically-dependent society offers any rogue nation a perfect target: an EMP-vulnerable power grid susceptible of a sucker punch to the heart of our infrastructure. On the floor of the House, Rep. Roscoe Barlett (R-Md) recounted a story of a Russian, who, prior to the G-8 meeting said “If we really wanted to hurt you, with no fear of retaliation, we'd launch an SLBM, submarine launch missile. We wouldn't know where it came from; it came from the sea. And we'd detonate a nuclear weapon high above your country, and it would shut down your power grid and your communications for 6 months or so.” Our enemies are well aware of what an EMP attack is, and just what precisely it would do.
The incentive to attack America through EMP is high because the cost to America would be catastrophic. As the 2004 commission report said “The current vulnerability of our critical infrastructures can both invite and reward attack if not corrected. Correction is feasible and well within the Nation's means and resources to accomplish.” Our electric grid systems, communication networks, financial system, fuel/energy infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, food infrastructure, and most importantly water supply would be corrupted to an un-workable extent in the event of an attack, because we have yet to make the vital corrections.
If America were hit with an EMP over the course of one year 90% of Americans would be dead. America would be reduced to third world status. Read more here.
3. Don’t Let a Catastrophic Disaster Leave You Stranded Miles from Nowhere
Jena McNeill
It’s a sinking feeling. You’re miles from a gas station. The car’s fuel level has been on E for far too long. You’re not sure you’ll make it to the pump in time. Inevitably, its 120 degrees outside or pouring rain and the idea of pushing your car the rest of the way or leaving your fate to the nearest passerby leaves you in a panic.
Yes, it’s a massive inconvenience to run out of gas. In a natural disaster, though, gas shortages aren’t uncommon. They don’t necessarily halt the U.S. supply chain, at least not permanently – but a catastrophic disaster can snarl transportation nationwide. In fact, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, gas prices went up 40 percent – a real hit to drivers. The problem is that gas stations don’t have much fuel on hand. That’s partly for fire safety reasons and partly because of environmental regulations. Still, when demand skyrockets right before something like a hurricane, stations run out quickly and have to wait for a fresh supply.
But what if it was impossible to get additional supplies? In an EMP attack, where, for example, an enemy might choose to take down the electric grid by exploding a nuclear weapon high in the Earth’s atmosphere, the transportation system (and supply chain for that matter) would go haywire –making such a problem a reality. No amount of AAA auto protection would help – as EMP literally destroys the electric grid and the electronics functioning off of it.
Station pumps need electricity to operate and so do the refineries and other facilities that bring the fresh supplies. Try driving through a city like New York with no stoplights, or no lights at all for that matter.
Even those more “environmentally-conscious” folks who pat themselves on the backs for their “greener” purchases would be stuck. Forget the hybrids (which rely on gasoline), forget the electric cars (duh), and forget the hydrogen vehicles, which also rely on electricity.
Transportation would be nearly impossible. No Amtrak, buses or subway. The impact of this would be large. For example, emergency responders need transportation to get the sick to the hospital (assuming one was functioning and that you could actually get in contact with 9-1-1 personnel). Ever take a 700 mile trek to a hospital? Probably not -- but that’s how long it could take to find one actually operating. The likelihood of making it on whatever was left in the gas tank would be slim.Read more here.
