Nuclear bombs are some of the most destructive weapons ever created. They have the power to cause immense destruction and devastation, with the potential to affect people up to hundreds of miles away from the point of detonation. Minor first-degree burns can occur up to 11 km (6.8 miles) away, while third-degree burns, which destroy and blister skin tissue, can affect anyone up to 8 km (5 miles) away. Third-degree burns that cover more than 24 percent of the body would likely be fatal if people don't get immediate medical attention.
The destructive power of a nuclear bomb is measured in megatons or kilotons. A bomb with a performance of 1 megaton would destroy 80 square miles, while 8 bombs, each with a performance of 125 kilotons, would destroy 160 square miles. This relationship is one of the reasons for the development of delivery systems that could carry multiple warheads (mIRV). People up to 35 miles will likely suffer third-degree burns, and within 140 miles of the explosion, windows would break and many died from the fragments.
A limited form of nuclear warfare would be like conventional conflict on the battlefield, but using low-performance tactical nuclear weapons. A nuclear war would produce enormous quantities of ozone-consuming chemicals, and studies suggest that even modest nuclear exchange would lead to unprecedented increases in ultraviolet exposure. The temperatures reached in a nuclear explosion are much higher than in a conventional explosion, and a large proportion of the energy in a nuclear explosion is emitted in the form of light and heat, generally referred to as thermal energy. The destructive effects of explosions extend miles from the point of detonation of a typical nuclear weapon, and the lethal consequences can cover communities hundreds of miles downwind of a single nuclear explosion.
One of the fundamental differences between a nuclear explosion and a conventional one is that nuclear explosions can be many thousands (or millions) of times more powerful than larger conventional detonations. This could lead to a phenomenon known as Nuclear Winter, which is a substantial reduction in global temperature that could result from the injection of soot into the atmosphere during a nuclear war. The most immediate effect of a nuclear explosion is an intense burst of nuclear radiation, mainly gamma rays and neutrons. Using updated models of Cold War nuclear explosions, the Wellerstein simulator can roughly predict the number of casualties and injuries from a nuclear bomb in a given location, large or small. The debate about the national and global effects of nuclear war continues, and it is unlikely that issues will be conclusively decided without the unfortunate experiment of real nuclear war. But can we eliminate nuclear weapons? Should we? What risks could such removal entail? Those are the real issues in the ongoing debates on the future of nuclear weapons.
