Simulations of Nuclear Explosions
Key: From smallest to largest
1st circle = Fire blast radius.
2nd circle = Air blast radius (20 psi). Heavily built concrete buildings are demolished
3rd circle = Radiation radius. Without medical treatment, mortality rates range between 50% and 90%
4th circle = Air blast radius (5 psi). Most residential buildings collapse and fatalities are common
5th circle = Thermal radiation. 100% probability of 3rd degree burns (the worst kind).
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With the onset of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union battled it out for supremacy on many fronts, one of which was nuclear arms. During the course of this conflict, hundreds of nuclear tests were carried out with 178 being done in the year 1962 alone. Luckily for today’s world, nuclear war did not erupt between the two nations, for the results would have been disastrous.
In this blog, I would like to recognize the destructive impact nuclear weapons have, and I would like to put their power into context. After all, it is one thing to know that Fat Man, the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, yielded 20 kt of TNT and another to see the destructive potential with our own eyes. Speaking of this, the image above is the impact Fat Man would have had on San Francisco. Based on the estimation provided by the website nuclearsecrecy.com, there would have been 113,000 fatalities and 210,000 injuries (not including fallout effects).
Shall we look at another one?
This image depicts a COMMON nuclear warhead in the US and UK arsenal which has a yield of 100 kilotons, 5x the power of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. When dropped in the center of New York, the estimated results are 464,000 dead and 1.26 million injured. To put this in perspective, the amount dead in this single blast would be more than the total amount of United States soldiers who died during World War II (405,000). One can only imagine how many would have died had New York been less full of water.
**Note: Carlos Bakery (seen top left) would not have survived this blast
**Note: Carlos Bakery (seen top left) would not have survived this blast
And finally the last one…
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| Pictured are fallout countours. However, I did not include fallout casualties in the numbers below. |
As you can see, I had to zoom out very far with this one. This image actually shows the largest pure fission nuclear weapon tested by the United States. Called the “Ivy King,” this weapon has a payload of 500 kilotons, and just to demonstrate a point, I simulated its detonation over Mumbai, one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The result? 1.5 million dead and 2.6 million injured with just one blast and one push of the button.
From these simulations, and important lesson should be learned: quite simply, nuclear war should never occur, for the casualties and loss of life would be disastrous.
Sources:
Apologies for the funky formatting. I tried to fix it, but blogger is not cooperating.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was very interesting because I remember learning about this in MEHAP and trying out various combinations. When reading an article about what would happen if a nuclear bomb detonated today, the source stated that most cities and states would be vastly unprepared. With main targets predicted like New York City, Washington D.C., Houston, Chicago, LA, and San Francisco, experts discussed the impacts of bombs being dropped in those places. Many people are worried the situation could be very similar to Hiroshima, where only 45 hospitals survived the blast, with issues of power and attempting to save as many lives as possible. People often don't talk about nuclear threats today in terms of what could happen or what to do in the event of one, but this article gave a good website that details important facts, www.ready.gov.
ReplyDeleteSource:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Preparing-for-the-unthinkable-nuclear-attack-3206969.php
Usually people focus on the most extreme events in history, such as the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, but it is crucial that we reflect on our close calls as well. The decision to re-arm ourselves is definitely a foolish one that could result in the explosion of entire continents, or worse, the world. Most of the examples you mentioned had to do with misinterpretations of situations, which happens quite frequently but the results could be devastating. This is just one of the many reasons why the UN can be a powerful tool to have discussions and set legislation to avoid more war.
ReplyDelete