ONE MAN’S SPINE-CHILLING VIEW OF ARMAGEDDON

An EMP weapon would be small enough to fit inside this North Korean satellite presently in orbit over the US.

STARVATION

Refrigerated and frozen food would perish within a month, while supermarket shelves would empty within days. America only imports 15 per cent of its food but much of the remaining 85 per cent will be destroyed by radiation. Within a year of an attack, many would have died from starvation.

NUCLEAR MELTDOWN

Nuclear power plants would go into meltdown. The US has 99 reactors, across 30 states. It would take seven days for reactors’ emergency power supplies to run out and power stations to go into meltdown, spreading deadly radioactivity across most of the US.

A burst of electromagnetic radiation (EMP) created by a nuclear explosion 250 miles above the US would create rapidly fluctuating electrical and magnetic fields destroying all electronic systems.

AIRCRAFT FALLING OUT OF THE SKY

At any one time, there are about 5,000 commercial planes in the air above the US, carrying an estimated 500,000 people. An EMP would ‘fry’ not only aircraft electronics but also those in air traffic control towers and other aircraft navigation systems on the ground. Unable to navigate or use flight instruments, the planes would simply drop out of the sky.

EXPLODING PIPELINES

The US has the world’s biggest network of oil and gas pipelines, with more than two million miles of pipe. Most start in Texas – America’s oil and gas capital – fanning out northwards from the Gulf of Mexico. Electromechanical systems regulating the flow of gas and oil would spark during an EMP attack, causing explosions that would create huge firestorms in both cities and forests.