News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Ask HN: Do you think nuclear armageddon is plausible?.

Re:Ask HN: Do you think nuclear armageddon is plausible? by newacc9 on Wednesday March 02, 2022 @03:08PM (#30532316)
Nuclear war is survivable for the elite in their underground bunkers, and they're the ones who get to decide if it happens. People live in Hiroshima now, its not like everything turns into Chernobyl. If you survive the initial blast you have to stay inside for a couple of weeks until the radiation deteriorates. But then you'll probably starve unless you're surrounded by preppers like in Utah. I think its going to happen but not for a few years.

https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/pdd60.htm

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: Do you think nuclear armageddon is plausible? by pstrateman on Wednesday March 02, 2022 @03:16PM (#30532443)
The scale of modern nuclear weapons make Hiroshima look like a toy.

Every potential position of a nuclear second strike would be hit with a warhead.

That's huge swaths of land converted to nothing for 2-5km in every direction.

Humans might survive, but not in places with nuclear weapons.

South America and Africa looking pretty safe right now.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: Do you think nuclear armageddon is plausible? by dzhiurgis on Wednesday March 02, 2022 @05:37PM (#30534300)
> 2-5km in every direction

That's what? 200k-500k people? There's thousands of cities sized like that.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: Do you think nuclear armageddon is plausible? by HstryrsrBttn on Wednesday March 02, 2022 @03:21PM (#30532519)
Hiroshima was a fart compared to the average yield of a warhead. Hiroshima was hit by a 13kT TNT equivalent. The average modern warhead is about 300-500kT -- dialble, but assume the max. if it's all in. (That doesn't change that Hiroshima was a tradegy.) A rocket with multiple warheads often enough carries 5*1MT -- all major cities would be rubble.

Ca. 100 modern warheads mean a multi year nuclear winter -- more will be fired, right know more than 1000 active on either side. Even with a small scale catastrophe: if you don't have enough food in your basement, prep. for cannibalism. The civilization would be horrible.

[ Parent | on HN ]