When a large electromagnetic pulse (EMP) or geomagnetic disturbance (GMD) event occurs—which, according to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), there is “100% certainty” will happen at some time in the future—as many as 9 out of 10 people in the U.S. could die.

Johnson, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, posed questions to witnesses testifying on Capitol Hill before his committee. He asked R. James Woolsey, chairman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, what would happen to society if the electrical grid were to be down for an extended period of time, such as a year or two, following an EMP event?

Woolsey responded, “It’s briefly dealt with in the commission report of [2008]. There are essentially two estimates on how many people would die from hunger, from starvation, from lack of water, and from social disruption. One estimate is that within a year or so, two-thirds of the United States population would die. The other estimate is that within a year or so, 90% of the U.S. population would die. We’re talking about total devastation. We’re not talking about just a regular catastrophe.”

What Are GMDs and EMPs?
Woolsey may have been the most pessimistic of the witnesses, but he wasn’t the only one who was worried. Joseph H. McClelland, director of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Infrastructure Security, reviewed some of the possibilities in his testimony. He explained that GMD and EMP events are generated from either naturally occurring or man-made causes.

In the case of GMDs, naturally occurring solar magnetic disturbances periodically disrupt the earth’s magnetic field, which in turn, can induce currents on the electric grid that may simultaneously damage or destroy key transformers over a large geographic area.

EMPs can be generated by devices that range from small, portable, easily concealed battery-powered units all the way through missiles equipped with nuclear warheads. In the case of the former, equipment is readily available that can generate localized high-energy bursts designed to disrupt, damage, or destroy electronics, such as those found in control systems on the electric grid.

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