We are All Gonna Die! Or, Ignorance is Bliss

Kathryn Schulz has made a career of writing about potential disasters for The New Yorker. This week, she published "Starburst" with the subheader: "The next big solar storm could devastate our power grid and communication systems. Are we prepared?"

You guess the answer.

Hint: If the answer were yes, would there be a seven page article about it?

The general idea is that a major solar storm with a level G-5 or greater could first wipe out satellites and then would hit the earth and wipe out the power grid. I don't understand enough physics to fully understand all of this, but my understanding is that a large solar storm would disrupt the earth's electromagnetic field and cause an electrical pulse to bounce through the earth. This current could be absorbed but the ocean and bedrock, but it could also melt our electrical power grid across the U.S.

You can read the article. I've read it twice and nothing has scared me more. Not the pandemic. Not the threat of a major earthquake. The only thing that could be worse potentially would be a massive nuclear war. 

Friday night before I was going to sleep, instead of counting sheep, I thought of the progression of disaster if an epic solar storm hit the earth and wiped out communications and all electric power in the U.S.. 

We would all die.

Our reliance on electricity and wireless communication has developed since the last major solar storm in 1867. In the late 1980's, there was small solar storm in Canada, but those resulting problems were not widespread. There is a 12% chance that a big solar storm could hit the US in the next ten years.

Experts say it would take a decade to rebuilt. The problem with this type of disaster, it would also the tools of recovery. For example, no one could call 911 because phones might not work if satellites are down.

As I was falling asleep Friday night, I started to think about what would happen. I am in IT DR, and part of my job is to predict disasters and what would happen

Here are my guesses:

• With no power, everyone on life support in a hospital--from babies in the NICU to elderly people recovery from surgeries--would die. Hospitals have generators, but not ones that would generate power for years. 
• The next group who would die would be people who are reliant on special medications. The drugs couldn't be built because factories wouldn't have electricity to run machines.
• Transportation would be out. Cars need gas, and gas needs to be pumped. Most modern pumps have electrical components, so could we get gasoline? Maybe there is a work around for this? I don't know. Electric cars would be out, for sure.
• Refrigeration would be out, as would heat and AC. Gas heaters usually have thermostats that run on electricity.
• Banking would be out as modern banks are computer databases. There is no Bob Cratchit in the back room keeping the ledgers.
• Some farms (wheat, corn, soybeans) use combines and harvest to reap the crops, and those machines need gasoline. Our ability to plant and grow basics foods would be gone.
• There would be no internet, newspapers, magazines. We wouldn't know what happened.
• Would the solar storms physically damage the workings of an airplane? Would planes drop out of the sky, or would they be able to land safely? 
• Would we still be able to use radio communication? Radio waves would still exist, but would we have power for transmitters and receivers?

Other consequences:

• Imagine you are traveling when this happens. Would you get home?
• What about connecting with family in other states or parts of the world? Would I ever see my kids or dad again?

I can't imagine the rest of the world order, or lack thereof. I know countless movies and books have been created about the end of the world, the Thunderdome, and the Zombie apocalypse. Those books aren't my jelly or jam.

This though exercise, needless to say, was a big downer. Would I be better off not knowing? Ignorance may be bliss, but it doesn't help solve problems. Yet, I am one person who doesn't work with power grids. What can I do?

After this thought exercise, I went to the store and bought a salad for dinner. I was so grateful that I could walk into a well lit, heated place with fresh food. I was grateful to see the staff, grateful for my credit card as I tapped the reader. What if all of this wasn't here? But for today, it was.

Now, I am typically not this dark. I generally consider myself an optimist, with a healthy dose of realism, but this was bringing me down. I went home, and turned on Spotify. I listened to Beyonce's new song "Texas Hold'em" about fifty times. Music therapy from Queen Bey and gratitude seemed to bring me back to the present.