Looks like I summarised it wrong. It’s not about ionising radiation directly from bombarding ions from outer space. It’s about the interaction of the ions with the Earth’s magnetic field, which as you stated “induced large currents in long transmission lines, overloading the transformers.”.
Here is what Greg Weinstein wrote in a scenario I just found written by him:
In 2013, a report had warned that an extreme geomagnetic storm was almost inevitable, and would induce huge currents in Earth’s transmission lines. This vulnerability could, with a little effort, have been completely addressed for a tiny sum of money — less than a tenth of what the world invested annually in text messaging prior to the great collapse of 2024.
Will correct my mistake in the post now.
There is one question on my mind still is whether and how a weakened Earth magnetic field makes things worse. Would the electromagnetic interactions occur on the whole closer to Earth, therefore causing larger currents in power transmission lines? Does that make any sense?
Good question! Will look into it / check more if I have the time.
Looks like I summarised it wrong. It’s not about ionising radiation directly from bombarding ions from outer space. It’s about the interaction of the ions with the Earth’s magnetic field, which as you stated “induced large currents in long transmission lines, overloading the transformers.”.
Here is what Greg Weinstein wrote in a scenario I just found written by him:
Will correct my mistake in the post now.
There is one question on my mind still is whether and how a weakened Earth magnetic field makes things worse. Would the electromagnetic interactions occur on the whole closer to Earth, therefore causing larger currents in power transmission lines? Does that make any sense?