The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Report to the Committee on the Impacts and Consequences of the
Massive Coronal Mass Ejection that Struck the Earth on April 15th 2025

On April 15^th, 2025 a Massive Coronal Mass Ejection (MCME) from our Sun struck the Earth. Despite almost 24 hours’ notice from NASA that an MCME was about to strike the Earth, there was little that could be done to protect ourselves from its impact. When the MCME struck the Earth its highly charged particles interacted with all the unprotected electrical and electronic equipment on the Earth. Massive electrical short circuits destroyed or ruined this equipment and, in many cases, caused electrical fires. All the mechanical equipment that utilized electricity and electronics (which was practically all mechanical equipment) ceased to function.

Prior to this MCME very little electrical and electronic equipment was harden, via Faraday Cages, as the economic costs to do this was estimated in the hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars. It would have also been necessary to stockpile replacement equipment and electrical/electronic parts to repair the damage the MCME would have caused, and these replacement/repair parts would also have to have been stored in Faraday Cages. These stockpiles would have to had been distributed throughout the country, along with the equipment needed to make the repairs. This too was estimated to cost in the hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars.

The efficacy of doing this was also suspect as it was not practical to create Faraday Cages around all electrical or electronic equipment. Specifically, the electrical power wires, the communications wires, and the Radio, Television, and Cell Phone towers could not be protected. Airplanes, trains, trucks, automobiles, and ships and boats would also have been very difficult, if not impossible, to protect against the MCME. Turning off electrical and electronic systems before the MCME struck were not effective, as the MCME highly charged particles were sufficient to cause electrical short circuits even if the equipment was turned off.

Given the costs and efficacy concerns, no actions were undertaken to protect the country from an MCME, except in the Armed Forces and parts of Homeland Security. Those efforts were totally inadequate to meet the demands of the country’s people at large.

The first major loss was to our electrical generation and electrical power distribution systems. In effect, we suffered a nationwide blackout that could not be repaired and lasts to this day two decades later. Some electrical generation and electrical power distribution systems have been rebuilt or repaired, but these are insufficient to meet the needs of the remaining population, nor sufficient to rebuild an industrial or technological society.

Electronic communications were no longer functional due to the loss of communications lines, cell phones towers, and radio/television transmission towers. The Internet ceased to exist, and all business and financial electronic communications no longer functioned. All economic activity ceased, as businesses were unable to operate, and personal money could not be obtained. Emergency services such as Police and Fire could not communicate to provide these services. Many of the fires as a result of electrical short circuits could not be extinguished and spread leading to much destruction by numerous and massive fires. Police could not be directed to locations where their assistance was required or needed. Even if the Police and Fire Departments could communicate their transportation systems were inoperable.

The next major impact was to the destruction of our transportation systems. Airplanes fell out of the sky, trains stopped in their tracks, trucks, buses, and cars would no longer function. Ships and boats lost their propulsion and steerage systems and floated upon the water like a leaf, subject to winds, currents, and tides. People and freight could not be transported to any destination. Police and Fire Departments vehicles were incapacitated. Farm machinery stopped working. Workers were stuck at their place of employment as there were no vehicles to transport them to their homes.

Other effects were that it was no longer possible to purify or pump water due to the loss of electricity and transportation systems. Sewage removable and treatment were likewise affected. Heating, Ventilation, and Air Condition systems ceased to work without electricity, and many people in different parts of the country began to feel the effects of heat and cold. Food supplies quickly ran out with no way to resupply them as a result of the loss of our transportation system. Hospitals and medical treatment centers could no longer function, and their patients died in surgery or on their hospital beds. Emergency Medical Transport Systems could no longer function due to the loss of communications and transportation and many people died as a result.

It was no longer possible to mine coal, obtain or refine petroleum, or produce natural gas because of the inability to do so with the loss of electricity and the loss of our transportation system. All manufacturing ceased and no goods were produced. The raw material could not be mined or transported too or from the manufacturing locations, and with the loss of electricity, the manufactures could not produce their goods. Shortages of these manufactured goods impacted the entire country with the lack of garments and shoes having the most direct impact on the people. Due to the numerous and massive fires, human shelter was in short supply and it could not be replaced with the lack of manufacturing. Pharmaceuticals and medical supplies could not be manufactured, and many people died due to this shortage. Spare parts could not be produced to repair the damaged equipment that was a result of the MCME.

Agriculture production ceased as most agriculture was done utilizing equipment that was powered by electricity. Tractors, plows, reapers, harvesters, trucks, milking machines, feeders, and other types of farm equipment ceased to function. Fertilizing & pest control supplies ran out as they could no longer be manufactured.  With the loss of the transportation system, there was no means to transport their products to market or distribution centers. After the conversion of agriculture to manual and animal labor yields per acre fell dramatically. With the loss of fertilizing & pest control supplies crop disease increased and produce yield fell. Fewer people could be fed with more human efforts required.

As the extent of the damage became known to the general public individual and mob violence began and escalated. People began to rob or kill to obtain food and water with no hopes of obtaining these items otherwise. Dogs and cats, and other animals began to be killed for food purposes. Sewage, trash, and fecal and urine material began to pile up. Dead bodies as a result of the violence that could not be buried were strewn about. Vermin began feeding on this material and began to multiply. Diseases began to fester, and plagues started due to exposure to this material or vermin transmission.

As things did not get better many urban and suburban people began to migrate to rural areas to obtain by violence the materials that they need to subside. This was met by armed resistance by the rural people, and many people died in this resistance. Faced with almost certain death by disease, starvation, dehydration, or violence many people opted for suicide rather than face their otherwise horrible death.

It is estimated that of the 330 million people living in our country at the time the MCME struck only 33 million survive the first few years. Within a decade this number had shrunk to 3 million people. Agriculture had to rely on human or animal labor to produce food supplies. Animal labor was scarce as a result of their being killed for food and this negatively impacted the ability to produce more food. The food supplies could not be transported very far as it required horse and wagon for transportation. Our country essentially became clusters of population near farms that manually grew food and forests where they could hunt or fish for food.

In effect, human civilization was knocked back several centuries before the industrial and technological age. Humans needed to re-learn the skills and abilities necessary to survive at this level. Manual labor became the de Facto standard of living. Life became more solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, shorter, and disease-ridden.

As we slowly begin to recover from this apocalypse, we need to keep in mind that we should protect ourselves from this ever happening again. On the positive side, we can state categorically that man-made impacts on Climate Change are no longer a concern.

Please note that this idea originated from my science article "Apocalypse - Or the Ways that Humanity Will Come to an End "- So, what are the chances of a massive MCME striking the Earth? This has happened in the past, but as human civilization was not dependent on electricity or electronics the impact was negligible. The last massive CME Earthly impact occurred in 1859 (known as the Carrington Event of 1859). A time when the most advanced technology was the telegraph. This event almost destroyed the telegraph system as many telegraph lines were burned out and many electrical telegraph receivers/transmitters were fused and destroyed. This telegraph equipment was either repaired or replaced over the next several years and only had a minor impact on human civilization. A massive CME generally occurs once every 500 years but that does not mean they occur in 500-year intervals.  They could bunch close together and then not occur for many centuries. There is no way to predict when the next MCME will strike the Earth. The only thing we can say with certainty is that an MCME will strike the Earth.