Confessions of a Former Apocalypse Survival Guide Writer
So the current worry is an electromagnetic pulse? [1]<p>The &quot;prepper&quot; version of this usually confuses an actual EMP attack (which requires an atomic bomb) and solar magnetic disturbances.  They&#x27;re totally different. An electromagnetic pulse is a big RF pulse with a rise time in nanoseconds.  A solar magnetic disturbance results in DC currents being induced into the ground over a period of hours.<p>An EMP attack is a threat, but if someone is firing atomic bombs at you, you have a bigger problem. That&#x27;s the military view.  It&#x27;s mostly a threat to things which have long wires attached to them.  Mobile devices are too small to be affected.  It also doesn&#x27;t affect fiber optics.<p>A solar magnetic disturbance is mostly a problem for AC long-distance power transmission on circuits which use a ground reference.  This is a big problem for power grids, and they have ways to deal with them. There was a big event in 1989 which caused a blackout.[2] It appears as DC in AC circuits, causing partial transformer saturation. If this isn&#x27;t detected, it can cause transformer overheating and burnout.  But the big grids have detection for this, and reduce power levels in some transformers when necessary. This happens at a low level a few times every year.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;americanpreppersnetwork.com&#x2F;2016&#x2F;07&#x2F;emp-electromagnetic-pulse-part-one.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;americanpreppersnetwork.com&#x2F;2016&#x2F;07&#x2F;emp-electromagnet...</a>
[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pjm.com&#x2F;~&#x2F;media&#x2F;training&#x2F;nerc-certifications&#x2F;re6-weatherenvironmental.ashx" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pjm.com&#x2F;~&#x2F;media&#x2F;training&#x2F;nerc-certifications&#x2F;re6-...</a>