What would nuclear war look like?

[Ohmnomnom]

Trigger warning Not for anyone feeling anxious about impending doom.

Purely for hypothetical speculation.

Who would hit first and where? What are the major European targets? Could Russia reach the US with nuclear weapons?

Would a nuclear bomb in London be felt in Scotland? Would China get involved? I'm curious how it would all play out.

@Keepyourheadscrewedon

I don't think threads like this are helpful at all, and I wonder what the motivation might be to post them on a day that Ukraine is facing such danger.

Really bad taste and form, to put it mildly.

What? The Ukraine isn’t facing nuclear war! Get a grip. Russia’s invasion today is part of a war that’s been going on between Russia and the Ukraine since 2014.

@DillonPanthersTexas struggling to get on that site, it seems somewhat busy!

I'd gather up my animals, close family and kiss this shit show of a world goodbye. If I died in a nuclear explosion I doubt I'd be missing much...

Besides you don’t invade somewhere and then nuke it because you’d be killing your own soldiers. The fact Russia has invaded with ground troops means nuclear weapons are LESS likely to be used in the war.

@DillonPanthersTexas struggling to get on that site, it seems somewhat busy!

Yeah I can imagine it is struggling with traffic today!

"NUKEMAP is an interactive map using Mapbox[1] API and declassified nuclear weapons effects data, created by Alex Wellerstein, a historian of science at the Stevens Institute of Technology who studies the history of nuclear weapons. The initial version was created in February 2012, with major upgrades in July 2013,[2][3][4] which enables users to model the explosion of nuclear weapons (contemporary, historical, or of any given arbitrary yield) on virtually any terrain and at virtually any altitude of their choice.[5] A variation of the script, NUKEMAP3D, featured rough models of mushroom clouds in 3D, scaled to their appropriate sizes.[6][7] NUKEMAP3D is no longer functional as Google deprecated the Google Earth plugin.

The computer simulation of the effects of nuclear detonations has been described both as "stomach-churning" (by Wellerstein himself) and as "the most fun I’ve had with Google Maps since… well, possibly ever" despite the admittedly abjectly grim nature of the subject.[8] Originally intended in part as a pedagogical device to illustrate the stark difference in scale between fission and fusion bombs,[9] NUKEMAP went viral in 2013, necessitating a move to new servers.[6] The website averages five "nukes" per visitor.[3] Wellerstein's creation has garnered some popularity amongst nuclear strategists as an open source tool for calculating the costs of nuclear exchanges.[10] As of November 2021, more than 230 million nukes have been "dropped" on the site."

This would be a good time to not have children.
I think that a decent stock of paracetemol is advisable, if you're not near a likely target.
These days bombs are hugely more powerful than the ones dropped in Japan, so lots of people would go quickly.

I think that a decent stock of paracetemol is advisable

I live in London, I think I might need more then a box of paracetemol if there is a nuclear strike!

I said if you're not near a likely target. You are in a happier position.

@EmpressCixi

Who would hit first and where? Depends, but the USA is to date the only nation to ever use nuclear bombs on enemy cities. I’d like to think no one would actually use them given the lessons learned by Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s destruction.

What are the major European targets? All capitals and major cities plus strategic military bases...ie the USA’s air bases in Europe.

Could Russia reach the US with nuclear weapons? Yes. They have had this capability since the 1950s. That is old tech.

Would a nuclear bomb in London be felt in Scotland? Yes

Would China get involved? They could but I think they are too smart to get involved unless they are attacked first. They tend to let the West sort itself out.

I'm curious how it would all play out. If you really want to know then there is much prize winning classic Japanese literature written by eye witnesses who survived the nuclear bombings of Nagasaki or Hiroshima and wrote about not just the minutes and hours after the bomb blast but the months and years following with radiation sickness, birth defects, ecological collapse, and the enormous human effort to recover people, animals, plants, water systems, the land...everything. One book I read that was really heartbreaking but grimly truthful account of the bombing of Hiroshima is Black Rain by Masuge Ibusi.

I think China would wait to see what the world does in response and if the West and NATO do nothing...thats when they move in on Taiwan.

I live near 2 nuclear power stations. I'd say they are definitely targets. Why not drop a bomb then have a helping hand in destruction. Lives here all my life and know it could happen.

Absolutely fascinating, will order those books.

Apologies if this thread offends anyone, but I did add a trigger warning! If it will all be over with quickly and there is no hope of survival, it does bring a sort of peace as there is literally nothing we can do or prepare against. I'd be much more afraid of a ground invasion tbh. The reports of rape, torture and murder by invading soldiers is well documented.

our children's futures are soo bleak

I think some sensible Russian aide would kill him if he actually tried to tip us all into MAD.

@LittleDeeAndME

our children's futures are soo bleak

No they aren’t. There’s plenty of reason to hope this will end okay. It’s just dreadful that there are likely to be Ukrainian casualties from this madness.

This. As for the "trigger warning" not much use given the title of the thread.

@Keepyourheadscrewedon

I don't think threads like this are helpful at all, and I wonder what the motivation might be to post them on a day that Ukraine is facing such danger.

Really bad taste and form, to put it mildly.

Sorry meant to quote this.

@Swear

This would be a good time to not have children. I think that a decent stock of paracetemol is advisable, if you're not near a likely target. These days bombs are hugely more powerful than the ones dropped in Japan, so lots of people would go quickly.

I’ve had the same thought (not particularly re today’s situation but more generally) re pills and actually do have a stock, but not paracetamol. That’s a painful way to go.

The fact the government quietly dismantled all the bunkers by the 1990s really tells you all you need to know.

Even a single nuclear weapon in the right place over the UK would wipe out society "as we know it". It simply became unrealistic to believe that the elite could hunker down, and them emerge into a world like 1945 where they could just pick up and carry on as before.

However until house prices start falling, it's premature to talk of an apocalypse.

But why post something so stupid and unlikely op?
Today of all days? When tensions are so high.

There is only one answer to that. To instil more terror, more fear.

@Thoosa

I think some sensible Russian aide would kill him if he actually tried to tip us all into MAD.

That's the thing with dictators. They surround themselves with people as bonkers as they are. I mean who was the sane man in Hitlers circle ?

Anyway, I have a feeling the UK will be OK. After all we're sitting on all Putins money.

I do hope this crisis gives more impetus to several things once it’s over. Most notably disarmament efforts after the fall of Putin. More prosaically, we should also pursue energy self sufficiency for British isles.

You can find photo's on the net, of what things looked like in Japan, when the USA dropped the Atomic bombs in Hiroshima in 1945.. I was aged 5 then, and remember seeing pictures in the newspapers of all the devastation it caused to all the people and all the landscape. obliterating everything in sight.

The more modern day nuclear weapons now, will be greatly advanced, and will probably be able to reach far and wide into other countries all over. Everything is secret, so who knows where nuclear stuff will be fired at,, you may get a three minute warning. !!

That's the thing with dictators. They surround themselves with people as bonkers as they are. I mean who was the sane man in Hitlers circle ?

Some people got close enough to attempt to kill Hitler several times.

Also, mutually assured destruction should focus minds even more effectively than conventional war.

He must have clever people around him who are secretly thinking their private thoughts. It’s not safe to be candid in Russian ruling circles, but it won’t stop people thinking.

Whilst a nuclear war would be short, I am hopeful that Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD for short) is why they won’t be used.

There are some interesting perspectives on this theory online that are worth reading.

@Thoosa

I do hope this crisis gives more impetus to several things once it’s over. Most notably disarmament efforts after the fall of Putin. More prosaically, we should also pursue energy self sufficiency for British isles.

We've had decades to disarm. If it was going to happen, it would by now.

However, even as I type the fuel in nuclear weapons is degrading. And there aren't enough sources to replenish it. Which while ultimately encouraging, doesn't bode well if someone wanted to get their moneys worth before they become unusable.

And if you want energy autarky in the UK, then nuclear really is the only option.