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KJ FJEDKFj kdjfksjk fjkjfkd sajfk kdfjsa kjdThe event begins with a giant thermonuclear explosion on the sun. The fusion of hydrogen atoms swells up and bursts open on the sun’s surface, spewing a stew of radiation and gas particles trapped in the solar wind. The continuous but variable flow of particles and magnetic fields from the sun creates gusts that can quickly reach Earth. Within hours, a space storm, a “coronal mass ejection” (CME), accompanied by a beautiful aurora borealis or “northern lights” display of shimmering celestial curtains, bombards Earth with geomagnetic disturbances.

The consequences are dramatic: disruptions to communications satellites, interference with global positioning systems (GPS) and air traffic control, and, most telling, taking down the high-voltage electric transmission system over wide swaths of the planet, blacking out more than 130 million people in the U.S. alone. Secondary effects due to the loss of the grid involve water system failures, severe disruptions to natural gas pipelines, factories shut down for weeks or months, food rotting in unrefrigerated warehouses, and unquantifiable costs to the world economy.

The cost of damage to the U.S. totals $1 trillion to $2 trillion. More than 300 grounded electrical high-voltage transformers in the U.S. suffer damages so serious that they need to be replaced, putting intolerable strain on an already stressed supply chain. Recovery takes as much as a decade, as the results wreck havoc with the U.S. and world infrastructure and economy.