Surely you have heard for a few months about the great blackout. Now, with the war in Ukraine, and Europe's intentions to punish Russia by avoiding buying gas from the country, the fear of that big blackout is gaining more strength.
And it is that it would mean not having electricity, nor Internet, and all technology that worked with electric light would be compromised. What would happen if it occurs? How would it affect Spain? We'll tell you then.
what is the great blackout
The great blackout is a topic that was discussed a few months ago, in 2021 especially. After the coronavirus, the eruption of La Palma... it was the country of Austria that raised the alarm and announced that a "big blackout" was coming for which they were already preparing, and which encouraged the rest of the countries to prepare.
Obviously, this spread like wildfire and there were many who panicked and began hoarding groceries, batteries, flashlights and anything that could be a "survival kit" for whatever might happen. Even the government had to intervene to calm people down and assure them that Spain was prepared. But the truth is that the threat of this "catastrophe" continues to keep many. Even more so with the war that has broken out in Ukraine.
According to Austria, the reason why the great blackout would be a consequence of several events related to energy. Let's remember that right now energy is getting more and more expensive, which has made it another trigger to think that everything points to it happening.
The Austrian bell that has put everyone on edge
Those who live in Austria have seen how, on the street, posters and informational announcements about the 'blackout', or the great blackout, have governed their daily lives for months. But it is not something that emerged in 2021; in fact, this question came from afar. Specifically, and as commented by the Minister of Defense in Austria, from 2019. The Army itself recommended that everyone stock their homes with groceries, tools and accessories. that could be used in case that apocalypse took place.
Keep in mind that a situation of this type not only destroys telecommunications, but it would be practically impossible to withdraw money, we couldn't buy anything, much less refuel the car. To that, we must add that drinking water supply would be affected, to the point of not being able to cook; and we couldn't have perishable food either since there would be no way to conserve them to feed us without getting sick.
The other big blackouts
The truth is that the "great blackout" is not really something unknown to many, although it can be scary when it lasts over time. And it is that in history there have already been examples of blackouts and situations where this problem has been experienced.
One of them occurred in 1965 where, in Ontario, Canada, they were without power for 13 hours due to a problem at the Niagara Falls hydroelectric plant.
Obviously, it was not a long time, but if we look back a bit further, we find a situation in New York that plunged the entire city into total darkness for 24 hours due to a storm that threatened the power grid and the nuclear plant. In that short period of time, the city suffered robberies and looting.
Do you want something worse? 1998. Auckland, New Zealand. 66 days without light. It only affected 6000 people but if that happens on a global scale or in a much larger city, the situation could be out of control.
How Spain has acted in the face of the great blackout
Faced with the social alarm that put many in check at that time, the Government stepped in recommending calm and ensuring that the probability of that apocalypse occurring was very low.
In fact, he argued this with several experts who justified and They described Spain as an “energy island”, that is, it was capable of having a slack in relation to the energy that was consumed, in such a way that they could alleviate the effects by carrying out concerted blackouts to save on electricity and that everything worked relatively normally.
Even so, there are many who do not trust and continue to have reservations about what may happen.
How can it affect the economy?
There is no doubt that, if this great blackout were to occur as they say, it would, first of all, mean a situation of real panic. We depend more and more on electricity, on energy, and when it does not work, some do not know what to do. We have a clear example when the power goes out in a public office and the employees do not attend to the public because they do not have the means to do so (despite the fact that in some cases there is “pen and paper”).
that chaos would trigger a massive visit to supermarkets to try to get as much food as possible, even though they may not have any tools to manage the purchase. Also local hardware and stores They would suffer this disbandment. But the truth is that everything would come to a standstill.
In the hospitals would be where there would be more danger, because, although they usually have batteries in case there are power failures, these are not indefinite, but would run out and could lead to the death of those people who needed, for example, assisted breathing.
And in the case of the economy? There would not only be a lack of supplies, stoppages, chaos, etc. but, on the economic issue, everything would plummet. For this it would be a stand by, yes, but in reality, there would be an increase in prices. There would be assaults, and other problems that would leave countries isolated and unable to buy or spend. And in the few cases that the purchase could take place, it would be at prices much higher than the current ones, which would further impoverish the country.
Due to the situations we are going through, and the possible threat of this great blackout that Austria has determined will occur within 5 years, this is something that does not leave the minds of many, fearful that it will actually happen because it could be a trigger for a hecatomb to take place at a social, economic and global level. What do you think about it?