“Nuclear weapons are the major danger to the Earth's environment”, researchers have alerted. In a new research of the potential global consequences of nuclear blasts, an American team discovered that even a small-scale war would rapidly damage the world's climate and ecosystems, causing devastation that can last for more than a decade.
Nearly Seventy years ago, the nuclear bombs dropped over places called Hiroshima and Nagasaki exploded and to this day remained the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare. So, what happens if we have a nuclear war? What are the consequences?
The impact of a single nuclear bomb depends on many factors such as the weather, weapon design, geographical layout of where the bomb dropped off and if it explodes in the air or on the ground. Approximately 35% of the energy comes in the form of thermal radiation or heat. Because of the thermal radiation travels at approximately the speed of light the flash of light and the heat comes many seconds before the blast wave and this causes severe flash blindness to anyone looking. A temporary blindness of a few minutes with a Megaton bomb which is 80 times larger than the Hiroshima bomb but much smaller
than many modern nuclear weapons. Those 21 kilometres away would experience flash blindness on a clear day and even up to 85 kilometres away on a clear night.
Thermal radiation burns happen closer to the bomb with first-degree burns occurring around 11 kilometres, second-degree burns at 10 kilometers and third-degree burns destroying skin tissue at 8 kilometres, third-degree burns that cover over 24% of the body will likely be fatal without quick medical care these distances are variable depending on the weather and what clothing you're wearing white clothing. For example, white can reflect some of the energy well, darker clothes absorb it at its centre .
The Hiroshima explosion was calculated to be 300 thousand degrees Celsius which is nearly 300 times hotter than the temperature bodies are cremated. The radiation from the blast also behaves like sunlight. So object cast shadows where the radiation does not directly hit but most of the energy released in the nuclear explosion is the blast which makes air away from the area of the explosion which creates a sudden change in air pressure that consequently crush objects.
If we use a 1 Megaton bomb as an example again, within a 6 kilometre radius there would be an estimated 180 tons of force on the wall of every two-story building with wind speeds of almost 255 kilometres an hour within a 1 kilometre radius. The peak pressure is four times greater and wind speeds reached 756 kilometres an hour. The human body can resist this amount of pressure. However the winds would create fatal collisions with nearby objects so deaths would largely be from collapsed buildings.
All this at one Megaton compare that with the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated the 50 megatons, Tsar Bomba dropped on an isolated island in Russia and you are looking at 3333 Hiroshima bombs combined. If you happen to survive all this now you have to worry about radiation. Ionizing radiation at the centre of a nuclear bomb has enough energy to pull electrons from atoms.
If India and Pakistan went to war, this would do huge damage after the nuclear exchange 5 megatons of Blackrock would immediately enter the atmosphere causing global temperatures to fall and receive 9% less rain annually. Though these changes sound small they could be enough to trigger crop failures and famine a separate study estimated two billion people would starve in the bomb war.
Source: The Guardian
Source: Cornell University
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The resources involved in making these weapons of the destruction is all wasted. Everyone knows of the potential devastation so it'll be crazy for someone to start a war. Makes no sense !
Crazy indeed! Unfortunately, human beings are more likely to be irrational than rational.
Well written and informative article @dommaraju .
One other thing worth mentioning though is that the global threat of a Nuclear War actually has very little to do with the energy of the blast, nor the radiation left behind. From a global perspective, and looking at the possible trheat of extinction, the main threat is the burning cities and the resulting "Nuclear Winter" caused by the smoke released into the atmosphere. I think it would only take the destruction of about 100 medium-sized cities to cause a decade+ long winter, which would be enough to mess up the seasonal cycles and air quality to the point where Human life could not exist without the aid of tehcnology.
It's quite interesting how we came to understand this by studying dust storms on the planet Mars. :)
Great post
If the earth is going to have a nuclear war well i dont think that it's going to be the end for humans cause the most powerful bomb created (Tsar Bomb) can do only a 30 km complete destruction. that 's mean that with all the nuclear bombs deployed on surface will destroy only 90 to 100 kms .
Back to sticks and stones
Thanks for the write-up, I tend to ponder this issue frequently. The capability humans have for destruction is some scary s**t!
Nice infos though I believe it will never happen. Nuclear weapons were invented for a solo reason for countries to fear each other. Using them would ruin the whole world and it's climate and economy, life in general. There would be no Earth anymore. Positive side of nuclear weapons is that they have reduced the amount of conventional warfare conducted. There will no more be global wars. Nowadays wars are purely economic and enough people are smart enough to sell the weapons that won't be used but still earn money from it.
That is some really useful information about what kind of impact a nuclear war would have.
As long as the "nuclear button" is with people who are level headed and reasonable there will not be a nuclear war. But it seems quite possible that there might be one, if a dictator like the one in North Korea loses his temper over something petty and decides to press the button...
Well I hope better sense prevails in the long run.
relly good
Well that's a scary thought! Let's hope nothing like this ever happens.
Great post though, some really good information :) Really enjoyed your writing style.
Great post. Definitely an eye opener.
We have already nuked ourselves over 2000 times since 1945. Here is the video showing nukes set off around the globe, it starts off slow, and gets pretty scary by the end.
Volcanoes are very dangerous! And you never know when to wait for danger!
Really interesting. Thanks for posting :-)
Oh my God!! 😱
This is insane... We can not afford to have 3333 Hiroshimas... The world and humans deserve better things from us, than a nuclear warfare. We should look to join hands to eradicate poverty from the world, not the mankind itself. If this is a result of being modernization, then I would pick Pre modern days every time, if given a chance.
It's a terrifying prospect to think about indeed. I've felt like for a while we've been past this, but recent times make me unsure... Better not think about then live in fear of the nuclear explosion
This is why I'll be on the first bus to Mars !
Pee. S. Saw this cloud below driving home from Pennsylvania a week ago...see my blog for more, and LQQK out !!
On the up side, at least I wouldn't have to clean my room anymore.
We dont pray for war,we need peace world wide.()
Upvoted and also resteemed :)
Wait a second... If India and Pakistan went to war, that would cause global temperatures to fall? That's an easy solution to stop global warming then!
Nice post. Very informative and useful to the reader. A little scary but that is what we face in today's world. Good work and good content. Will continue to follow.
this is a very scary thought you are pushing out. thanks for the post @dommaraju
This is a very horrible thing, hopefully not happening in this world.
Living peace will feel more beautiful.
Oh dear...this is disturbing. I grew up during the grey pall of the mushroom cloud during the cold war...and Bay of Pigs affair.
~may all hatred cease...let there be peace~