Nuclear War?

Question

Do you think if a war started and say 3-4 countries dropped a nuclear bomb within months of eachother, would that nuclear impact be enough to destroy the Earth or something close to it like natural catastrophes, etc. Just thinking because a nuclear war is something that is not far fetched within the next 10 years or so....

Answer 1

The effects of nuclear weapons are greatly exaggerated.3-4 bombs being dropped within months will not destroy an island much less a country or the world.This depends on the size of the bombs (xxx kt) however.
A 100kt bomb will destroy homes up to 2.5 miles and burn people up to 3.1 miles away while a 500kt bomb will destroy homes up to 4.3 miles and burn people up to 5.6 miles away.Bad weather (heavy low clouds,fog) could reduce these destructive effects.
The total damage caused by bombs will depend upon the size (yield) and height of burst.Surface bursts will suck up thousands of tons of dirt and create heavy local fallout.Air bursts will produce a tiny amount of fallout which will be spread globally.Fallout (air or surface burst) also depends on bomb size.
Have a look at the website listed below..it shows a theoretical attack on russian nuclear forces (silos,etc) using 1300 warheads resulting in destruction of their nuclear forces (provided they don't Launch On Warning) and 12 mil casualties from fallout.Chapter 4 is the "counter-force" strike (stated above) and Chapter 5 is the real-deal "counter-value" strike against cities.Chap. 4 contains allot of technical jargon so u can just skip to the end (of chapter 4) for the summary.

The use of say, 1000 bombs (on dense cities)could kill about 600 million people but all the bombs in the world will not destroy the earth but kill say 30% of the (world) population and cause allot of environmental disasters.Also, a large bomb dropped near to a coast (but not too near) could trigger a tsunami.

Hmmm,this sounds like best answer material.

Answer 2

I would say within the next 5 years and yeah actually if I'm not wrong wouldn't dropping a nuclear bomb on a nuclear bomb make it explode? Anyways it would be like this one country hits another and while the bomb is landing that country sets off theirs onto someone else and so on and on but I think the USA has a satelite that's suppose to destroy a nuclear bomb if it comes close to the usa. Anyways all the bombs would cause a nuclear winter or something I think

Answer 3

That's a tough one, but a great question. I think in the scenario you have here that the overall impact on the planet would be minimal. Although devastating to those countries. But a full blown global nuclear exchange within a matter of hours is another matter entirely.

Answer 4

a short update on the current state of nuclear armaments.....
According to the reputable US Brookings Institute http://www.brook.edu/ current global stocks of nuclear weapons are:

US strategic 9,170
US non-strategic 1,225
Russian strategic 7,622
Russian non-strat. 5,100
UK 260
France 450
China 400
Israel 100-150?

There are also just under 15,000 inactive but intact US and Russian nuclear warheads which await destruction.
India and Pakistan are building their capability. SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) call them de facto nuclear weapon states. In Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1996, Albrecht et al, identify Iran, Algeria, South Korea and Taiwan as "countries of concern", and have chapters devoted to Iraq and North Korea, whilst Argentina, Brazil and South Africa are seen as "backing away" from nuclear weapons. South Africa used to have 6 nuclear weapons which have now been dismantled.

Right now states of nuclear alert are low. Nevertheless some 16 nuclear powered and nuclear armed submarines are currently on patrol, whilst NATO has moved to a more flexible nuclear response. One UK Trident submarine can hit 48 targets with a 100kT warhead, range 7,400 km.

In answer to your question....a "Nuclear Winter" threshold level of nuclear use is around 100 - 500 warheads, particularly if they are targetted at high carbon targets such as oil installations or coal storage areas. The threshold for Nuclear Winter is very low. Nuclear Winter is the term for a prolonged period of cold and dark after nuclear war due to large amounts of carbon particulate aerosols being injected high into the atmosphere.

Answer 5

Hundreds of nuclear weapons were tested after World War two in a comparable period, so no, the world would be safe, in fact the claims about nuclear winter have long been known to be exaggerated. Enough radiation and destruction could fall to wipe out our civilization and not do much to the weather at all...

Answer 6

It doesn't matter whether they release even just one tactical nuke! The present ecological situation is already driven to change and we can't do anything about it! Even if they released multiple nuclear weapons the safest location to be would be the Andes mountains of Peru! They've done climate studies at multiple think tanks and they all came to the same conclusions concerning where the least nuclear contamination will fall! Don't worry about what you cannot effect, continue to enjoy your life!

Answer 7

not that simple. nuclear war wouldn't happen like that anyway. as for destroying the world? who cares what happens to the world if everyone you know is now just a shadow on the sidewalk? even a limited exchange would cause nuclear fallout, radioactive particles which could spread all over the world.

Answer 8

3 or 4 bombs would do no real damage to the whole planet especially when dropped within months of eachother

Answer 9

3-4 countries, i.e. 3-4 bombs? I say nay, at the blast wouldn't be sufficient enough to cause any dramatic shift in the planet's climate or celestial movement.

Answer 10

There will not be a "Nuclear War", only the "Fear of a Nuclear War", or the "Threat of a Nuclear War"
I don't believe Israel has nuclear weapons, they would just like you to believe they have.
George said he believed Saddam had WMD, and yet he went in there with guns blazing, was he foolhardy, no, just well informed that there was no danger.
Fear can control the world, and "there is nothing to fear except fear itself"
America of course is the worlds biggest threat, and hopefully if they can keep George's finger off that button for a little while longer.