one of the "We're all gonna die" scenerios is a solar flare: the most famous one of these is the Carrington event of 1859. when a solar flare was so strong it affected the telegraph.
One of these could shut down the power grid, all computers, and many modern appliances with the result: devastation of civilization.
But in these days of the new cold war, one does have to worry about another scenerio: the Electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear weapon that is set off in the atmosphere. (see One second After, where the cause of was an enemy nuclear attack of three nuclear weapons originating in cargo ships near the coast that were able to get under radar, causing an EMP)... both the EMP and a solar flare could wipe out computers, the power grid, the water supply, most modern automobiles, etc. and cause societal breakdown.
this would affect cities most of all: huge numbers of people would flee cities to rural areas, and the resulting death rate from hunger, disease and accidents would be huge.
Here in the rural Philippines, we still know how to use water buffalo, plant and thresh rice by hand, use manure to fertilize, and use a machete...But even here, we are close enough to Manila to be overwhelmed by refugees and might not be able to grow enough to feed everyone. And how many would die of infectious disease?
But again, it hasn't been that long since World War II when the infrastructure collapsed, and there is a memory of those days and how to survive.
But in the USA? I'm not sure. I suspect the best place to survive would be in Mormon country, since those folks still keep a memory of their pioneer ancestors, when they were essentially on their own to survive.
well, anyway, what brought about this musing was this article, on a deserted monastery on an island in Siberia (in Tuva) that was dated due to a piece of wood with tree rings (aka by using dendrochronology), which showed evidence of a Miyake event, a proton solar flare that, if it happened today, could destroy the power grid and every computerized appliance you own.
Um, Miyake event? Yes, a new term. The article explains.
In 2012, Japanese scientist Fusa Miyake identified two spikes in the carbon-14 levels present in tree rings of known age from dendrochronological archives—one in 775, and the other in 994. These surges, now called Miyake Events, were likely produced by massive bursts of cosmic radiation and can be seen in tree rings throughout the world.
Wikipedia article on the 775 event. thought to be a solar proton event (in contrast to a solar gamma ray event). From Wikipedia:
This is outside my field, but to put it simply: Both will fry your computer chips... and it is one reason that if you want to protect your computer, you need to keep an eye on solar weather website.
lots of youtube videos on how to stick your computer into a Faraday cage to protect it (e.g. stick it into a stainless steel trash can?) but hey the real danger is damage to the electric grid.
Power grids could be destroyed a lot of things: by a simple hack job (see DieHard 4.0), by coordinated physical terror attack by crazies, wildfires (as in California) etc.
But the most common cause of electric grid damage? the lowly Squirrel.
NEARLY FOUR YEARS ago, Cris Thomas began documenting attacks on the US power grid. The number of incidents was eye-popping; over 1700 in all, impacting nearly five million people. The perpetrators? Squirrels. And birds. Assorted rodentia. Some industrious frogs, too.
It's so serious that it even has it's own Wikipedia page.
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