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In any realistic exchange, there will be entire countries spared from the effects. Particulate matter rarely crosses hemispheric boundaries. Most of Africa, A
by lumost 5y ago
In any realistic exchange, there will be entire countries spared from the effects. Particulate matter rarely crosses hemispheric boundaries. Most of Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand would be spared. Given the roughly 1k standby weapons each side has, neither Russia or the US would waste missiles on anything other than military targets and capitol cities of nuclear powers involved in the exchange.
This isn’t the Cold War where weapons numbered in the 10s of thousands. Every continent is not split between East and west. There is limited reason China/NK would involve themselves in a nuclear escalation between Russia and NATO.
The part we should be concerned with is that the above makes a nuclear exchange over a proxy war far more likely. Alternately, if both sides decide on a second use policy similar to chemical weapons in ww2 - a conventional war becomes possible.
- bufferoverflow 5y agoHalf the planet would be dead and uninhabitable for a long time. USA has 88 nuclear power plants. No question they will all be targeted. So it's Chernobyl time 88, but there will be noone left to cover each of them with a sarcophagus. The projections for a 500 warhead attack estimate 100-150 million dying immediately from the fireballs, shockwaves and fires. Then most survivors will die from the radioactive fallout, radiation sickness, starvation. Most animal life will end too.
- LargoLasskhyfv 5y agoActually that is forbidden, at least according to some convention which exact point of origin I'm too lazy to search now. Anyway, targeting NPP's with nukes is a big NO, NO! Same for things like dams, btw. OTOH, before these the Brits had no problems targeting Germanies dams whith some ingenious things, which hopped over the water several times like described in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chastise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chastise But that was before this convention was born. Anyway, remains to be seen who gives a shit about such things in all out confrontation.
- jules-jules 5y agoEven if no NPP is targeted directly (which I doubt), I don't think enough workers would remain (or care) to maintain the plants' safety in the event of a nuclear war.
- bufferoverflow 5y agoDo you think Russia cares about some rules, especially in the case of a nuclear war?
- LargoLasskhyfv 5y agoOf course! Every kook goes by the book! Anytime, to shine, in front the temples of the just wars, to be a part, of the eternal row of stars, from before the beginning of history, just another killing spree. The question is which edition, because differences in interpretion, lead to sedition, which in turn gives just another reason, to loudly shout TREASON!, for anybody else, while the wheel in thy sky turns over time, unimpressed with all that shine from below. Soon there will be the next overthrow.
- 323 5y ago> There is limited reason China/NK would involve themselves in a nuclear escalation between Russia and NATO. I've seen someone say (without citation) that US would nuke China too in a full-scale nuclear war with Russia just so that China doesn't inherit the world. Curious if anyone has a reference to that.
- dotancohen 5y agoA lot of people say stupid things on the internet.