The Sobering Impact of a Global Nuclear War

With two of the member nations of NATO, Canada and the United Kingdom, strongly advocating for the use of long-range weapons against the Russian fatherland by Ukraine's military and now with the EU Parliament voting in favour of the idea by a 425 to 131 vote, I thought it would be an ideal time to review the impact of a nuclear war given that we are stepping ever closer to the precipice.  

  

Let's open this posting with a recent item on RT, the much-hated Russian government-backed news purveyor:

Here is the key quote:

 

"I am constantly trying to convey to them one thesis that the Americans will not be able to sit it out behind the waters of this ocean. This war will affect everyone, so we constantly say – do not play with this rhetoric."

 

While Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly, Antanov appears to be referring to a U.S. Department of Defense study that examined the impact of a nuclear war on global agriculture, there is little doubt that a nuclear exchange would have a significant impact on human survival.  Thanks to Alex Wellerstein's NUKEMAP, we can get a sense of the high human cost of nuclear war directly related to a nuclear blast.

 

Let's start with a scenario where, in response to a NATO threat to its existence, Russia uses the road mobile, heavy truck-mounted RT-2PM or SS-25 Sickle Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (which has now been replaced with the Topol-M which has a single warhead with 800 kiloton yield, noting that it can be upgraded to four to six warheads) which had a yield of between 800 and 1000 kilotons.  This is roughly one-third of the yield of the American LGM-35 Sentinel ICBM (aka the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent) which has a yield of 300 kilotons which will replace the Minuteman III missiles.

 

In all scenarios, the fireball radius is shown in yellow within a yellow outline, moderate blast damage radius is shown in dark grey, the thermal radiation (i.e. 3rd degree burns) radius is shown in orange and the light blast damage is shown in light grey.

 

Here's what would be the result of an airburst detonation of an 800 kiloton nuclear weapon over Washington D.C.:

 

There would be an estimated 484,780 fatalities and 839,440 injuries.

  

Here's what would be the result of an airburst detonation of an 800 kiloton nuclear weapon over New York City:

 

 

There would be an estimated 1,564,350 fatalities and 2,937,690 injuries.

 

Here's what would be the result of an airburst detonation of an 800 kiloton nuclear weapon over Los Angeles:

 

There would be an estimated 582,880 fatalities and 1,454,320 injuries.

  

Since the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom seems more than willing to start a nuclear war, here's what would happen to the poor unfortunate serfs living in London, England:

There would be an estimated 947,080 fatalities and 2,295,450 injuries but I'm guessing that the British Prime Minister will be hiding in some hardened facility that will be immune from the immediate impact of a nuclear war.

 

And, since the Prime Minister of Canada and his Ukrainian mentor, Ms. Chrystia Freeland, believe that Ukraine must win the war against Russia at any cost including attacking the Russian fatherland directly, here's what would happen to the denizens of Canada's capital city:

 

Given that Ottawa is a much smaller city than the other cities in this posting, there would "only" be an estimated 238,740 fatalities and 343,530 injuries.

 

In this rather sobering posting, I have attempted to outline the immediate impact of a nuclear detonation over several cities around the world.  The number of dead and injured that I have used are only related to the detonation event and do not reflect the medium- and long-term health impacts of radiation and other issues like crop failures and infrastructure destruction. 

 

Politicians that flippantly state that they believe that Russia should be subjected to the use of NATO (i.e. American and British) long-range missiles should be held to account for their idiocy.  Or, perhaps these politicians who are so keen on expanding the war into Russia and their immediate family members should find themselves on the front line of any conflict with Russia.  Oceans will not protect North Americans from the sobering impact of a global nuclear exchange.