There are approximately 15000 warheads in this world. Imagine a day , in a near future, when the place we live in turned into a fiery hell and the whole planet is turned upside down. Everyone you ever knew are dead, and everything you ever used is burned to ashes. Only your memories are left with you. Therefore, Have you ever wondered what would really happen if a real nuclear war breaks out with the detonation of all the war heads. Lets find out.
So, what Would Really happen if a Nuclear war Breaks out?
There are various factors , that determine the impact of a single Nuclear Bomb. Those factors might be the geography of the location, air pressure and many other to say whether the bomb explodes in the air or the ground.
Effect on the Environment
If all the nuclear war heads are detonated, it would look like display of fireworks from Space.
After the bomb explodes , it generates a tremendous amount of thermal radiation.The thermal radiation travels at the speed of light. After the blast the shock wave would completely destroy what remained.The Explosion would also cause hundreds of millions of tons of smoke to rise up in our atmosphere. In a very short amount of time, the smoke would cover vast portion of our atmosphere and block the sun light ,causing total darkness. This thick layer of Smoke might remain in the atmosphere for several years. With little or no sun light the temperature around the world falls down rapidly. It would cause a nuclear winter. There would be very less or no photosynthesis causing majority of vegetation to die. This might alone cause a mass extinction in a worst case scenario. The ozone layer would be partially destroyed allowing the dangerous amount of harmful rays to enter Earths surface. Also , the blast changes the air pressure, This sudden change in air pressure can crush object and knock them down.
Fig : Nuclear Winter (Credits)
Radio active Fallout
When a nuclear bombs explodes above the ground, there are higher chances of injecting the radioactive particle in the stratosphere. This might cause a global fallout. Nuclear bombs are more powerful than Nuclear plants accidents. Example : The Chernobyl Nuclear accident caused radio active fallout in the air contaminating 5 million acres of land. And Nuclear bombs are even more powerful than that.
Effect on Living things
The people at the center of the explosion would be instantly vaporized. The thermal energy from the explosion would travel at the speed of light.Because of this the heat and flash of explosion comes several seconds before the blast wave causing "Flash Blindness" to any one looking directly at the explosion. It might cause total flash blindness up to 81 km. Flash blindness it just a temporary blindness and lasts for few minutes.
Now, how far away you are would determine how would you be affect by the thermal energy. If you were about 11 km far from the explosion you would get 1st degree burns. Similarly , at 10 km you would get 2nd degree burns and at 8 km you would get 3rd burns. keep in mind that , the Nuclear bomb explosion of 1 megatons would cause this.
Fig : Degree of Burns(Credits)
The center of the Hiroshima Explosion was estimated to be 300,000 degree Celsius. This led the bodies to vaporizes instantly and convert to their basic elements.
Genetic Mutations
The radiation generated from the nuclear explosion have enough amount of energy to separate electrons from atoms. The amount of radiation that people would encounter would be determined by where are they and how far are they and is the body covered with some sort of shield like wood or cement walls. If enough exposure to radiation happened then it might alter DNA in the Humans, plants and animals. According to a article released in 1996 , genetic mutations that were caused by radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to cancerous tumors in the survivors. Also , Genetic mutations reduces the reproductive capability and causes changes in the appearance of offspring. The offspring might have appearance with body parts mutation like born with one leg or hands.
Fig: Genetic Mutation due to Radiation (credits)
Conclusion
As we know, only two nuclear bombs are detonated in an act of war. First one was on Hiroshima and second was on Nagasaki 3 days later. This two bombs alone killed approximately 200,000 people. Lots of them dying immediately and some of them died in pain and misery. And as of today, there are estimated to have approximately 15000 nuclear war heads all over the world. IF all the countries went into the nuclear war and launched all of them , it would wipe out 90% of life on Earth and those who will survive will have to face the consequences their entire life.
That's it for this Episode guys, Hope you enjoyed it. If you did, Upvote and comment your thoughts below. Thank you
Stay Curious.
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