DEC 15, 2008 - Nuclear Weapon EMP Effects is a Federation of American Scientists web page that, unfortunately, is coming up on timely. I'm not saying that you need to be thinking about such a prospect just yet, mind you. But the thing is, preparations for the possibility of nuclear EMP (ElectroMagnetic Pulse) requires a fair amount of lead time, to they extent they're possible at all. Why do you think the US has spent billions on the Anti-Ballistic Missile system? If you think the objective is to fend off a massive nuclear strike, think again. It's to stop one single nuclear warhead exploding high above the heartland, and plunging the entire US back into a pre-Industrial Revolution level of technology. We're talking Colonial Williamsburg here, if a single high altitude nuclear burst goes off. (Set one off high over Paris, and you could see a feudal Europe again overnight: not a single person killed, just an entire continent plunged into technological oblivion.) If you think that sounds crazy, consider that Congress has already held hearings on the subject, concluding that the threat is real and not too far afield. (Who would do such a crazy thing? The answer is that there are those who would gain from crippling the US and Europe. For them, it's not a crazy thing at all, but a strictly rational calculation.) There are any number of preparations you and I can make to minimize our personal vulnerability to such an attack, from off the grid alternatives to EMP shielding. Think there's no need? Looking ahead, I'm thinking it could be as close as just over two years away - maybe half that, maybe longer.
