Protecting Against Solar Flares, Electromagnetic Pulse, and Geomagnetic Storms

Lately I have been getting a large amount of inquiries about protecting against Solar Flares, Coronal Mass Ejections (CME’s), Geomagnetic Storms (also called Geomagnetic Induced Currents) and Solar Storms.  In fact it is one of the top searches on Disaster Preparedness Blog for the last year and for good reason, as we are entering the Solar Maximum phase which in most cases causes an increase in solar activity.

I did a few previous articles that explain a bit about what these are and how they have impacted businesses and infrastructure during past events that you can read more about here:

Sun Spots, Solar Flares, and Geomagnetic Induced Currents Can Disrupt Your Business

Coronal Mass Ejection May Cause Disruptions Being Called Solar Tsunami by Some

What exactly is Space Weather and Why you Should Care

Protecting against Solar Flares, CME’s, Geomagnetic Storms, and other related Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) such as an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) or lightening strike is possible and is something I offer to businesses, agencies and organizations through my consulting and services business Continuity Co., LLC.

I have never actually written about anything on protecting against these threats here for a number of reasons, mostly due to the number of myths that exist and often reinforced by bad information around the internet. I have even seen some good information on protecting your equipment called bogus so trying to find the correct information can at times be like navigating a mine field unless you are in the know.

Thanks to a fellow preparedness expert and someone I consider a friend, Arthur T. Bradley Ph.D. consumers and even small businesses can now make preparing and protecting against this kind of threat easier, cost effective, and even worth consideration.

Arthur Bradley recently wrote the book (literally) on just this topic called Emergency Preparedness for EMP Attacks and Solar Storms. In fact, he didn’t just write the book, but he also tested and provides detailed information on methods some of the common and easy protection methods you can use to protect your electronics.

If you are a big business there are additional methods, steps and equipment you can use to give you added protection from these events. However, they are not always as cost effective for smaller businesses or consumers, but the information contained in the book will certainly help you.

Since protecting against these events is an inquiry I do get often If you would like more information on how to protect your business from Solar Flares, EMP's and Geomagnetic Storms please feel free to contact me.

As part of this post I am also giving away ONE (1) autographed copy of Arthur Bradley’s new book Emergency Preparedness for EMP Attacks and Solar Storms. To enter, please leave a comment on why you would find this information useful, what steps if any you have taken in the past to protect against these threats, and why you feel you should get a copy of the book. I will choose a person randomly as the winner. Don’t miss out the book is filled with great tips and useful information you can use to enhance your disaster preparations.

Once the giveaway contest is complete I will do a followup with a few more details on protecting against these events. The contest will run until May 1, 2012 12:00 AM.

Comments

[Jeremy mullins]

I would love to have this book!

[AmandaK]

This is a great post. Another really good site that I've found that answers a lot of EMP questions is a radio show called EMPactRadio.org. They have guests on their shows every Wednesday at Noon Eastern Time. The shows are always very interesting to listen to. This week Wednesday the 25th, they are having two guests on their show; Tony Shaffer and Thomas Popik. Here's the link to check it out:

[SurvivingAlive]

I'm glad I found this post. These are some aspects of survival preparedness I hadn't put into consideration. I don't know how probable the threat of an EMP is, but it is certainly something worth taking into account. I haven't personally taken any preparations in these matters, but now I'll be researching it.

[Keith Erwood]

Thanks SurvivingAlive. There is more to it than just an EMP, if you consider the possibility of Solar Storms it is a matter of when not if they will occur. Should one happen today that occurred just like the Carrington Event of 1859 the impact would be much more significant than it was back then due to our dependance on technology today.

Also, the threat of an EMP attack is real, and the experts say (including myself) that the likelihood of a nuclear attack is greater today than during the Cold War. A great many enemies could take out our country with just one well placed missile.

[Risk Detective]

Thanks for the insights on this topic and the links to the previous articles. Preparing for disasters can be even more difficult when there are myths and misinformation on the topic.

[Keith Erwood]

I'm declaring Jeremy Mullins as the winner of this contest. I sent him a message and he has 1 week to get back to me otherwise I will have to pick someone else.

[Step With Hope]

You made some decent points there. I looked on the internet for the issue and found most individuals will go along with your website.

[Franklin Holloway Emergency Preparedness]

I am sorry that I missed this contest. Only 6 competitors. It is a topic that I have not covered on our websites and blogs, though my survivalist teacher in Dixie Caverns did introduce me to the topic of EMP before we became separated.

CMEs I have been aware of for a long time, due to the effect that they have upon my mind, and even upon the life or death of certain folks, to wit, those with whoopin cough.

Thank you for makin me to be aware of this book, and reawakenin an interest in the topic.

[Long Term Food Storage]

Solar flares and magnetic storms wreck a havoc on the sattelites. Only the appropriate shields can protect the sattelites from their ill effects

[Computer Repair Portland]

Wouldn't a cheaper option be to set up data back up offsite or in the cloud


The second system is to create an off-site backup. If you’re as lazy as me (um, as busy as me…), this is the option for you. Crashplan works on both Windows and Apple computers. Choose to back up to another computer on your network, a friend’s computer, a local external drive, or to their servers. I recommend you use their servers for several reasons. First, it’s cheap. For a mere $3/month you can backup one computer, or for $6/month you can backup as many as 10 computers with unlimited storage. Second, it’s reliable.

Backing up your computer to another computer on the network or a friend’s computer has the same risks as backing up to an external drive – they will all eventually fail. Crashplan has redundant servers, so your data is backed up on multiple servers for safety. After running through their simple setup, access your files through the program installed on your com

[Keith Erwood]

Actually this would be viable only in the instance your off-site data protection vendor or cloud vendor is set up to prevent being impacted from this. Most are not. Also, consideration of a vendor out-side the impacted area would need consideration.

This is one instance you may be better off making critical backup to disk and storing it in a safe environment yourself. Along with a back-up computer system.