The prospect of a nuclear war is a terrifying one, and the consequences of such an event would be catastrophic. But what would happen if a nuclear war did break out? How would humans survive?The effects of a nuclear war would be far-reaching and devastating. The initial explosions would kill tens of millions of people, and the resulting nuclear winter would cause crop destruction and famine across the planet. Even in the Southern Hemisphere, countries like Australia would feel the ripple effects of a nuclear conflict in the Northern Hemisphere.
The consequences of a nuclear war would extend far beyond the initial explosions, killing millions more around the world. If you are warned of an impending attack, it is important to take immediate action. Enter the nearest building and move away from the windows to provide protection against explosion, heat, and detonation radiation. In 1982, nuclear disarmament activist Jonathan Schell published The Fate of the Earth, which many consider to be the first carefully argued presentation that concludes that extinction is a significant possibility of nuclear war. So what is the risk of nuclear war really? After talking to more than a dozen experts familiar with the horrors of nuclear conflicts, the answer is that the possibilities are very small. While the physical effects of a nuclear winter would begin to dissipate after a decade when the sky began to clear, the catastrophic consequences of even a localized nuclear conflict would have far-reaching consequences. Depending on the plan chosen by the president, the command will go to US crews operating submarines that carry nuclear missiles, combat aircraft that can launch nuclear bombs, or troops that supervise intercontinental ballistic missiles on the ground.
The term 'nuclear winter' was coined in the 1980s, when scientists began to realize that the horrors of nuclear war would not be limited to explosive explosions and radiation. Advances in nuclear technology since then mean that it is possible that the devastation of the next nuclear attack will be much worse than previously thought. As a result of the widespread nuclear consequences of the 1954 Castle Bravo detonation, author Nevil Shute wrote the popular novel On The Beach, released in 1957. In contrast to previous research on global nuclear conflicts, studies have shown that even small-scale regional nuclear conflicts could disrupt the global climate for a decade or more. Scientists have argued that even a small-scale nuclear war between two countries could have devastating global consequences, and such local conflicts are more likely than large-scale nuclear war. The overwhelming majority of humanity would suffer extremely unpleasant deaths from burns, radiation and hunger if a nuclear war broke out, and human civilization would likely collapse completely. Survivors would have to make a living on a devastated and arid planet.
However, decades of living with nuclear weapons have produced a wide body of knowledge about what a nuclear war could do to humanity and our planet.
