Nuclear threat' to power grids (Ministry of Truth's new "hemp")

[daveOS]

'Nuclear threat' to power grids
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8304256.stm

Apparently a "High Altitude Electro Magnetic Pulse" converts to a "HEMP" acronym in ponerized parlance (don't want pesky vowels getting in the way of disinformation efforts I suppose) . But in any case, for whatever reason the BBC is immediately concerned to convey how Axis of Evil states could produce a nuclear device capable of exploding high in the atmosphere paralyzing Western electricity grids - AND "water", AND "phones", AND the whole economy - that it could take "four to eight years" to recover from and more action needs to be taken.

 

[mada85]

This is a rather odd article, given that the effects of an upper-atmosphere EMP look rather like the effects of a cometary explosion. This article may well have been published to seed the public's mind with a cover story for just such a high altitude explosion. Consider the recent case of Air France Flight 447.

I've made a few revisions to the article to give it a possibly more accurate reading.

‘[Cometary] threat' to power grids

Scientists have warned that [a high altitude cometary explosion would be] capable of paralysing Western electricity grids for months or years.

Experts fear that a [comet or asteroid exploding] above the earth's atmosphere could cause a catastrophe.

They told the British government that high-altitude electromagnetic pulses could lead to an "economic shutdown".

US government adviser Avi Schnurr said efforts to protect the US electricity grid had already begun.

Mr Schnurr is president of the International [Near-Earth Objects Research Society], a coalition based in the US, which aims to stimulate efforts to protect against the risk of [high-altitude cometary explosions].

Those feeding into the network include scientists from around the world, governments, corporations and NGOs.

Communications failure

On Monday, the British Parliamentary [Near-Earth Objects] Select Committee heard how a [5 tonne comet or asteroid exploding] 20 miles above the earth could cripple an entire country's power grid.

The BBC's [space] correspondent Frank Gardner said this was called [CHOMP] ([Cometary High-altitude Orbital] Magnetic Pulse) and its effects could, in theory, bring a country to its knees.

At the briefing held in London, Mr Schnurr said Britain was still "just at the thinking and planning" stage and more action needed to be taken.

Mr Schnurr said that power, water and phones could fail.

Cars could run out of fuel, cities could be gridlocked and the economy could in effect be "shut down".

Recovery, he said, could take between four to eight years.

The scientists, who advise the US government, said the biggest concern for […] planners was the threat from so-called "rogue [asteroids]" like [433 Eros].

The latter has already [passed alarmingly close to the Earth] and [grazed the upper atmosphere] over the Pacific Ocean.

[…]

 

[Mountain Crown]

Yes, it might very well be as you say. Very insightful.

 

[daveOS]

Insightful indeed. That mada85 rewrite resonates more accurately to me than the original story, and my sincere thanks to him for catching this article mention, confirming my sense of the oddity of it, and shedding such light.