A World Without Electronics

All electronics on planet Earth will stop working. This isn't a joke, nor is it science fiction.

In the near future, there is a high probability that all electronics on Earth will stop functioning. I'm not trying to scare you but simply warning you about what the next global event will look like. No, I'm not talking about a giant meteor hitting Earth, nor am I discussing global nuclear warfare. The thing that will stop all electronics on Earth from working is a Coronal Mass Ejection hitting Earth directly.

What is a Coronal Mass Ejection?

A Coronal Mass Ejection is when a significant amount of plasma and magnetic field from our sun is released into space. It isn't particularly harmful to humans on Earth since our planet has a protective magnetosphere. A Coronal Mass Ejection will, however, cause massive damage to all electronic devices on Earth.

When a Coronal Mass Ejection strikes Earth, the sun's matter will be massive enough to engulf the entire planet. Earth's magnetic field is able to block the majority of these harmful particles, but enough particles from a Coronal Mass Ejection will still be able to penetrate and disrupt most, if not all, electronic devices on Earth.

While the Earth is bathed in an enormous amount of electromagnetic particles, there will be an excessive amount of electrical current. This excessive electrical current could potentially damage or destroy all electronics on Earth.

Why Haven't We Experienced It Before?

Coronal Mass Ejections don't occur very frequently, and strong Coronal Mass Ejections rarely hit Earth. The last significant Coronal Mass Ejection that hit Earth was back in September of 1859. The Coronal Mass Ejection in 1859 is labeled as the Carrington Event, after the amateur astronomer Richard Carrington.

Back then, there weren't many electronics; the only electronics around were telegraph lines. During the Carrington Event, telegraph lines worldwide began to fail, and there were numerous reports of sparks flying from telegraph machines. Some telegraph operators reported that they could transmit messages without their machines being plugged in or connected to a battery.

Probably the most noticeable phenomenon of the Carrington Event was the auroras that illuminated the sky. It was reported that the auroras in the sky were so bright and strong that people mistook it as the day when it was actually nighttime.

Usually, when solar flares or solar storms hit Earth, the energy is directed to the poles of our planet and is seen as the aurora borealis in the north pole and the aurora australis in the south pole. During the Carrington Event, however, there was so much energy that people who lived near the equator were to see the auroras. Some people who saw the auroras thought that the world was coming to an end.

Although the last Coronal Mass Ejection that hit Earth was over a hundred years ago, our planet was close to being hit by a Coronal Mass Ejection in 2012. In 2012, the Coronal Mass Ejection missed Earth by a few days. Had our planet been in the direct path, there would have been tremendous damage around the globe.

How Likely Will A Coronal Mass Ejection Hit Earth?

According to a scientific report published several years ago, the likelihood of a Carrington event-level Coronal Mass Ejection striking Earth every decade is about 12%. This doesn't seem like a big number, but 12% is a huge number for something that can cause so much damage to our infrastructure and economy.

If you don't believe in psychics or mysticism, please skip the following few paragraphs. There once lived a world-famous psychic named Venga Baba. Venga Baba predicted a lot of events, and most of her predictions came true. She predicted her death correctly and also presaged events that would occur far into the future. For the year 2021, she indicated that a strong dragon will seize humanity.

In my personal opinion, I believe that the dragon Venga Baba refers to is a Coronal Mass Ejection engulfing our planet. I say this because if you look at videos of a Coronal Mass Ejection hitting Earth, it seems almost as if it is an orange/red dragon consuming the planet.

What Can We Do?

If the sun throws a massive amount of plasma at us, we can't just dodge it, nor do we have the technology to completely block it. The only thing we could do is to shut off all our electronic devices and unplug them from the power grid. Most power companies are aware of potential solar storms and have contingency plans to shut off the power grid. Shutting down the entire power grid prevents catastrophic damage that could take years, if not decades, to rebuild.

A significant concern is that we currently don't have the technology to pinpoint the exact time that a Coronal Mass Ejection could strike Earth. Unlike sunlight, electromagnetic particles released from the sun could take anywhere between several hours to several weeks to reach Earth. Scientists who track the sun can know if a Coronal Mass Ejection is coming but can't predict when and how long our planet will be engulfed in it. To fully protect our electronics, we would need to shut everything down for at least a week.

Another safeguard to protect smaller electronics is to place your valuable electronics in a faraday cage. A faraday cage is an enclosure or a cage that is used to block electromagnetic fields. Faraday cages are generally made of metal, and a cheap makeshift way to shield your electronics is to place them in a metal garbage can.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a Coronal Mass Ejection hitting Earth is very likely in the near future. Once it hits us, there will be devastating effects since electronics worldwide would need to be shut down for an extended period of time. Our society cannot efficiently operate without the use of electronics for a single day, let alone over a week long. I really hope that we don't encounter such a situation, but it is only inevitable.