Lloyds Posits Cost of Next Large Coronal Mass Ejection at $2.6 Trillion
- John Cornelison
- July 15, 2013
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As our culture becomes ever more dependent on electricity, the current distribution system has a huge vulnerability – induced current from external electrical flux.
One source of such an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) would be a nuclear bomb (or a dedicated gamma ray bomb that North Korea can already produce), but a much more significant and wide-spread effect would result from a large coronal mass ejection.
NASA’s illustration on the right highlights a number of vulnerable systems:
- Satellites and GPS devices
- Oil pipelines
- Aircraft communication
- Power grid
- Water supply
- International space station
Where damage from Hurricane Sandy was about $68 billion, Lloyds now estimates a modern “Carrington Event,” could cause up to $2.6 trillion.
Full Story: www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/07/13/when-space-weather-attacks
Lloyd’s report: www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2013/07/Solar-risk-in-North-America.pdf
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