Stone Age Page 18
Hardest hit would urban areas. All supplies, not stored up, but delivered as needed, would disappear quickly, leaving the population to fight for the remaining scraps. Leaving would be impossible. Where would you go on foot? Money would be worthless. The worst in human nature would rise to the top, as there would be little law enforcement, without transportation to bring accountability to these areas.
Hundreds of millions would unquestionably die through disease, murder, and starvation. All societies fueled by technology would most definitely collapse. It is a bleak story, and would most certainly happen if an 1859 event were to occur today.
What are our chances of something like this occurring? Fairly good, I’m afraid. Some scientists are currently predicting a 60% chance of this type of event occurring in the next 10 years. Yes, 60% chance. Yet, as society, we do nothing to protect ourselves from such an event.
Sounds dire, doesn’t it? It could be even worse. Consider, in 775AD, some scientists have argued that a mega-flare ten times greater in strength than the Carrington Flare hit Earth. The proof is in the tree rings, with a spike in Carbon-14 readings, which bear no other explanation.
I am admittedly someone obsessed with eschatological (i.e. end-of-the-world) theories/stories. However, when I read about the 1859 Carrington event, I was amazed at how underreported this was. The Stone Age story is my way of bringing some light to an event far more likely (60%) than a global warming disaster (unknown %), or asteroid collision (smaller %), or even an alien invasion (0%). Yet, how much do we spend on the prevention of these? It is estimated that it would cost $200 million or more per year to start fixing the power-grid. This is a small price to pay, when you consider the cost of replacing it after The Event would cost $ trillions and the lives of hundreds of millions, and surely the very lifestyle we take for granted every day, which could end permanently. What is it worth to you to protect this?
Our technology is a house of cards, which if destroyed, would really take with it our complex and diverse society. Consider this the next time you turn on a light switch, adjust your air conditioner, drink your hot coffee, take a shower, drive your car, shop for freshly delivered food, answer your cell phone, search the Internet, withdraw money from an ATM, post on Facebook, and so on. All of this could be gone in an instant. The result would be catastrophic. Perhaps, we would see another Stone Age.
Thank you for reading,
M.L. Banner
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