When it comes to solutions to help the planet, it’s mostly simple things, such as switching from one-use plastic bottles to reusable bottles, plastic bags to reusable bags, and other simple things. But I’ve never seen anyone talk about something that would be genuinely bad for humanity.

I’m talking about solar flares. A solar flare is a burst of radiation from releasing magnetic energy associated with sunspots. When a solar flare is large enough, it can create an EMP. An EMP, also known as an electromagnetic pulse, can completely disable anything electric or anything for a wide variety of times, depending on the solar flare’s size and power. It could even be permanent, if large enough. But one of that size and strength would be impossible to create . . . right? 

Well, no. To put it another way, humans can create EMPs using nuclear technology. If a person decided that the Earth needed a bit of a reset, and they had enough money to do so, they could go into space and unleash an EMP large enough to hit most of the planet. But how would this save the planet? Well, to answer that question, let’s go to the immediate aftermath.

Let’s say you’re in school when it hits. Power goes off, the projector fades out, and chaos ensues as the room fades to black. You go to check your phone, but it doesn’t light up. Is it dead? You ask your friend to get theirs, but theirs also isn’t turning on. The teacher reaches for their flashlight, but it too doesn’t turn on. Outside, you can hear cars crashing, people screaming, and people start flocking outside of their classes in an attempt to understand what is going on.

But of course, that’s only for you. Planes begin to crash as their systems shut off and fail, trains slow down to an eventual stop, and ships stop moving as their motors die. Thousands perish. The radios are not working, and the televisions are not working. Nothing is working. 

And here’s where the benefits begin. As cars stop working, along with all other forms of gas guzzlers, no more CO2 can be shoved into the air for the atmosphere to deal with. Factories can no longer make plastic, or anything else that may be harmful. People are now forced to use other modes of transportation, such as bicycles, scooters, skateboards, and maybe even the Little Tikes cars. 

But of course, that will likely never happen. But it is certainly a good solution for solving the planet’s biggest problem: us. People litter every single second, people use up thousands of gallons of oil and gas daily. Even though most rich people hate to admit it, we’re part of the Earth’s problem. We caused the extinction of hundreds of species, and we’re still contributing to that counter today. But . . . maybe with little steps, we can fix some of the damage that we’ve caused. Even if it takes time.