America and Wild Speculation

In my last blog, I stated my belief that something big is about to hit America and that our leaders are keeping our attention focused on this inane election so we would not notice. Don't upset the rabble; keep the peasants calm is often their attitude. I also said that I did not want to engage in useless speculation, but, on second thought, why not? Wild speculation is fun and seems to be  a favored pastime. So, here goes.

Let us assume that our government financed scientists keep things from us. That is a good assumption. There are 3 natural disasters that are very possibly going to hit in the foreseeable future. We are told that scientists have no clue when but, I think they might have a wee clue.

First, the Yellowstone super volcano. It is definitely due to blow. Seemingly it does that on a periodic basis and is slightly past due, and the crown in the caldera is rising at an ever increasing and alarming rate. What if it blows? Well, for ages we have been told that it will wipe out much of Earth's life and bury US citizens in ash up to our neck. There is a growing consensus among geologists that such an estimate is a little exaggerated. If you are within 1000 miles of a full blow, yes,, you are gone but, further away, the chances of survival improve. Certainly life will be tough and vastly changed, but many, the further away the better, will survive. We will still likely have the capability of feeding ourselves. However, the rest of the world will be in deep trouble. We grow a whole lot of food and, in the aftermath of such a disaster, we would stop exports. It is estimated that about 400000000 Africans would die of starvation quickly and we have no idea what this would do to China, since they too depend on us for a lot of food.

Even a partial eruption would create chaos. Chaos, of course breeds conflict and I do not believe that the rest of the World will sit by and starve peacefully. Areas like the Ukraine also produce much grain and, this may give you an idea why Putin is so eager to keep control there. I certainly cannot blame him, however I can understand why Europe gets a but edgy over the whole scenario, especially since it now has all of those Middle Eastern mouths to feed.

However, there is now thought that the volcano may not blow. Instead, the building pressure could cause a shift in the tectonic plates, leading to a massive Earthquake, something on the scale of a 9 on the Richter scale, the equivalent of 99000000 tons of TNT. What this would do to the rest of our Earth's very unstable crust is legitimately unknown, but remember, almost all of the Pacific rim, including California and Alaska is unstable and subject to both earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Just the quake in Yellowstone would be a National disaster on an unthinkable scale.

The other possible impending disaster comes from space. Our friend and neighbor, the Sun, gets a bit cranky on occasion, and spews an enormous amount of radiation our way. Solar flares are known to disrupt electronics on Earth. Fortunately, we are surrounded by a magnetic field that, mostly, protects us. However, mostly is not always and our shield fluctuates. If a big flare occurs at one of those moments of weakness, all, and I mean all, electronic circuits are fried and modern life shrieks to a halt. No computer, no TV or radio, no AC, not electric lights, nothing, unless you have a generator, and, guess what? No electricity means you could not zip on down to the gas station and get the fuel to run that generator. All of that is bad enough but, even worse is the damage to life. Much of the planet's life, including us, would be devastated by the intense radiation.  

The third possibility is a little more of a long shot, but why not throw it out there. Most agree that any asteroids headed our way would not make it through the atmosphere and hit land. Probably true, but we should remember that in Siberia, in the early 1900s, one made it far enough in to explode in the air. It wiped out a very large swath of forest, knocking over trees like matchsticks. On a lesser scale, a meteor exploded over Russia a few years back and the explosion blew out glass windows and scared the hell out of a lot of folks. That is not the problem. A slightly larger explosion than the one that hit Siberia would produce an electromagnetic pulse, much in the way a nuclear bomb exploded in the air would do. The effect? Again, as with the Solar flare, lights out.

Are these potential disasters looming? Is this why our attention is being directed toward Hillary and the Donald and toward the non-existent Zika virus crisis. I don't know, but I guarantee you this. Something is going on, or is about to go on, and we are being kept in the dark. But, cheer up. Maybe I am wrong and the only thing about to happen is a simple invasion by aliens from a hostile planet.

What happens in America When the Lights Go Out

I love technology. I love the conveniences of modern life. But, stop and think a minute. we are now almost entirely dependent on a web of electrical connections. This morning I was in a Walmart and the registers went off line. You might have thought that the Apocalypse had just been announced, and that was just a temporary glitch.

Webs, by their very nature, are delicate things. Well, you might say, there are always backups to everything on the Internet and many ways to rout power around the electrical grids. True enough, but not foolproof.

Recently, Russian subs were seen hovering in the Atlantic near the undersea cables that link the Internet. Now, Putin is a trickster and seems to greatly enjoy tormenting us, but what if, in some kind of snit, he ordered those cables destroyed. Or worse, what if one of the many terrorist groups got hold of a sub and started hacking at those cables. How would businesses and cities cope?

Worse yet, suppose a terrorist group finally gets its hands on a nuclear device, a big one. Then suppose that they found a plane big enough to deliver it or a missile that can carry it (and that they can control). Or suppose China, which has such capabilities, decides they are just fed up with the way the World is going. The sensible thing to do with such a weapon, if you only have one, is not to hit a land target, but to detonate it in the upper atmosphere. The electromagnetic pulse would fry every circuit on Earth. No Internet, no communications, no electricity.

Or Nature may get testy. We are protected from solar flares by our electromagnetic field. From time to time, that field shifts and weakens. If our Sun releases a flare at one of those times, again, all circuits are gone (not too mention a whole lot of other problems. for now, let's stick to electrical woes).

Of course there are generators, but those will not do a lot of good if all the circuits are fried and rewiring complex systems is a lengthy process.

None of these scenarios are all that far fetched. So again I ask you, what would you do? I can guarantee that very few would be ready for that. Heck, I am not sure most people can even make change in a store without the register telling them what to do. But, there are a few basic skills that anyone can and should learn. I am not talking about becoming a hard-core survivalist, just becoming marginally competent in working without power, skills that most people had not all that long ago. In future bogs, I am going to give a few tips.