: “How would a Carrington Event damage Technology?”

Question

: “How would a Carrington Event damage Technology?”

In: 2

Answer 1

A coronal mass ejection, like the Carrington Event, induces large electric currents in long wires. At the time of Carrington (1859), there were only a few long telegraph wires deployed, so damage was limited. Alas, to day we have many miles of long distance power cables. A large event would disrupt electric grids, potentially worldwide. if all the protection systems work correctly, this will result in two-three days of total power outage, followed by days to weeks of power restoration. If the protection systems fail, replacing 10% of the worldwide grid transformers will involve 3-5 years of transformer production.

It would be bad. We’re quite dependent on electricity today.