If there was a global EMP

[GommeInc]

Meh, we've got an old tractor here we could use as transport, it doesn't rely on too many electrics, although igniting the engine would be the only difficulty.

At first people will act as if a wide-spread powercut has happened (powercut as in - "Oh, the power is gone... Find the torches!"), but panic may set in after a couple of hours when they realse they can't communicate with many people, or go anywhere.

[JackBuddy]

Hmm well transportation would be near enough impossible. There would be no aeroplanes, ships, cars or trains to move around. They all take many years to manufacture and without an assembly line it would be virtually impossible. I'm afraid our society could not function with horse + carriage.

Edit: I think without transportation we would probably all starve too, before transportation, people generally ate goods such as bread, meat, fish and vegetables. We now eat meats and fish from all over the world and our bread is made in various locations in the UK now rather than in windmills. We import and manufacture a ridiculous amount of food which would all be gone. At the very least there would have to be harsh rationing.

There were ships 150 years ago. People wouldn't automatically starve. People would just have go back to basics.

[AlexOC]

It would be mayhem!

[Bewilcorp]

All the little kiddies won't be able to go on habbo! This will cause suicide attempts and possibly life threatening injuries. I just don't want to think about it any more.

[GommeInc]

What you must all remember is that we won't actually know the whole world is completely techless - without technology, we cannot communicate with the rest of the world, unless people start letting helium filled balloons or birds off with notes attached - we'd be clueless. We would assume it's only local, until we start meeting people who have traveled great distances turning up, but even then the chances are unlikely and the information would have to rely on word of mouth.

Also, food would be scarce - vegetables rely on greenhouses which keep the food going (and growing), plus apples are frozen or chilled, and rely on technology to remove fast amounts of oxygen in special cabinets (so not to make them go mouldy) and so forth. Heck, going down to Tescos would be impossible, each shop wouldn't be able to charge you for food because they would have to rely on what the price labels say on the shelf (as most supermarkets rely on eletronic databases, rather than a big ol' book).

Interesting though

[dbgtz]

it would be treated as the end of the world imo, so rioting and stuff. Btw if this happened, do stuff which already has electricity charged into it work? Or batteries?

[Seatherny]

Everyone will go mental. Chaos everywhere. Supermarkets will be in trouble. Everything will be.

[Firehorse]

it would be treated as the end of the world imo, so rioting and stuff. Btw if this happened, do stuff which already has electricity charged into it work? Or batteries?

could find out by putting a battery next to a super strong electromagnet and see what happens.

A global EMP would probably be strong enough to shift the magnetic poles though so it wouldn't be likely, and compasses wouldn't work either if that happened.


I think the LEDCs (Lesser Economically Developed Countries) would be hit less hard, because they mostly use good old pen and paper for record keeping and rely on their own produce a lot more.

A potential cause of a global EMP could be the collision of collossal-sized magnetically charged asteroids close to our solar system, sending out a pulse which not only would engulf the earth but we would have no power against it.

[AlexOC]

I can't imagine how i would survive..

My red dot and thermal would go down, so i would have to revert to iron sight. Also as a man who relies solely on his heartbeat sensor i would be in very big trouble.

[dbgtz]

Nice COD reference there How are you using both?