Categories and Classes of Situation X

reply to post by usmc0369


'sitX' stands for 'situation X.'

Oh, um... secondl line?

How about more fun:

A. reversal of earth's magnetic poles.
Nobody thinks much about the effects from that, although it has happened numerous times in earths geologic history---and without, apparently, disturbing the Van Allen belts and exposing the earth to cosmic radiation... But I bet it would mess with electrical utilities, computers, and all radio communication or indeed electrical fields of any type, from grandpa's pacemaker in his heart to every cellphone and aircraft beacon. Hmm.

B. A virus like Tobacco Mosaic, only in maize.
An already-real world threat, this plant virus originated in the solanaceae family that includes tomatoes, potatoes, and tobacco. The virus itself is genetically unstable, and has branched out beyond its original host. If it were to attack domestic corn/maize....most of which is hybridized for monoculture with most year's seed being genetic sisters...this could prove even more devastating than the European corn borer moth, which seriously damaged global production in the early 1990s. No more corn syrup. Meaning, no soft drinks, practically no processed food of any kind until sugar beet production can be increased, which might take a decade. In the mean time, no cow or chicken feed for much of earth's livestock.....

C. A Coronal Mass Ejection, a repeat of the Carrington Event
A much more violent version of scenario "A." Read the wikipedia article: Carrington Event . When this happened in 1859, it was so violent that telegraph towers emitted sparks(!) Picture if you will, every utility pole near you showering a cloud of sparks. How would transformers react? How about your cell phone, your car's computer, hell, even your own nervous system...

I'm waiting for you to start the zombie thread.

Would fit under the "pandemic" classification, so (NBC)...Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, etc. (with category depending on outbreak).

Personally, unless a zombie virus is airborne, I'm fairly confident we wouldn't see a zombie apocalypse. Bites are a notoriously inefficient way to spread a disease... If you look at the worst past cases, it's a common thread.

where did the OP get the stats for the class level events? Oh, and by the way, 08 has come and gone, and no WWZ yet, : (

What about an all-out? When all of it happens at once?

reply to post by thelibra


HI. I love the numbers that you give, and definitions to classifications...are these real classifications, labelled by some agency or whatever? Or yours? They seem realistic enough to be. Is there an actual classification guide? And please more info on the zombie survival guide, sounds like an interesting read, and could it be altered to suit a different critical situation?

reply to post by dr_strangecraft


I am actually doing a lot of research on the coronal mass ejection issue right now....NASA has some wonderful articles on it, as does astroengine.com. Are you aware of any groups or threads where this may be the main line of conversation? I am new and a bit lost in the vast array of info here

reply to post by 1amworriedincanada


Here's the most recent ATS thread I'm aware of: repeat of the Carrington Event

reply to post by DeusEx


you can be squished between two objects during a battle though...

I really dont understand peope who say that they wont prepare because they figure they will die if a comet hits us or some such rot.....if you prepare and DO get slammed by a major event and everyone gets squished,no problem...you arent out anything....but if whatever hits somewhere else,and you have stuff,you will do alright....I get my gear together...We(every family member) have a 3 day kit,a major field kit that we attach the 3 day kit to if we need to,and a houseful of stuff that I dont plan to carry and dont want to...but if we HAVE to run,we can....so if we get squished,you can post"I told you so"...

reply to post by thelibra


sadly they never made a World War Z movie but it would be cool to see a zombie movie about how we survived it and see it explained thorugh different peoples views

Extreme solar flare next fall/winter will degrid us,severe storms,power down for months,food riots,fresh water shortage,....this is what to prepare for now

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
How about more fun:

A. reversal of earth's magnetic poles.
Nobody thinks much about the effects from that, although it has happened numerous times in earths geologic history---and without, apparently, disturbing the Van Allen belts and exposing the earth to cosmic radiation... But I bet it would mess with electrical utilities, computers, and all radio communication or indeed electrical fields of any type, from grandpa's pacemaker in his heart to every cellphone and aircraft beacon. Hmm.

A magnetic pole shift takes thousands upon thousands of years, in some cases millions to completely shift. It's not something that happens overnight, it takes a very long time. So even if we were in one, it's possible we wouldn't even notice.

Something that is very interesting though is that recently we've measured that our magnetosphere is shrinking. The reason is unknown, but the more it shrinks the more vulnerable we are to the effects of a solar storm. So a storm that might produce only moderate effects right now could produce more severe effects down the road. We'd also be exposed to more radiation.

reply to post by The Arbiter of Lies

sadly they never made a World War Z movie but it would be cool to see a zombie movie about how we survived it and see it explained thorugh different peoples views

Good news - The World War Z movie WAS made and is OUT now!
Bad news - It is NOTHING like the book.

a reply to: thelibra

Thank you for this most informative post! Would a more pointed regional level be possible to estimate? For instance based on resources to handle the emergency?

a reply to: RobertRogers

[SNIP]

snip

Would be scary if the Zombie Apocalypse happened.