What happens after the bombs drop: Scientists reveal the terrifying global aftermath of nuclear war

As the threat of nuclear war intensifies, the terrifying reality of what might happen after the bombs explode may cause even more fear than the initial disaster.

For decades, worst-case scenarios predicted that tens of millions of people could perish within minutes if nuclear warheads hit major metropolitan areas such as New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles.

But each of these fireballs has long-lasting consequences for the planet and anyone within range of the deadly radiation clouds.

Scientific studies have suggested that the conditions caused by a series of nuclear explosions around the planet would be disastrous for human health, the environment, and almost all other living organisms, which some might consider evaporation in an atomic explosion a less painful fate.

Specifically, years of research on the effects of nuclear explosions and the ensuing fallout have revealed that such a war, even an isolated conflict, would burn the ozone layer, spread disease from unburied corpses, and expose millions of people to a deadly disease called Acute Radiation Syndrome.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that created the infamous Doomsday Clock, warned in January that the world has never come this close to complete destruction.

Recent events have pushed this timeline even further; The war in Iran is in danger of spiraling out of control after nuclear-armed Russia allegedly began providing Iran with military intelligence on US forces.

Meanwhile, New START, the last remaining nuclear weapons treaty between the United States and Russia, officially expired on February 5, leaving no stone unturned in either country’s ability to produce and test weapons of mass destruction.

The ‘Ivy Mike’ nuclear test on 1 November 1952 (Image) was one of the largest surface explosions ever and completely destroyed Elugelab Island in the Marshall Islands.

Diseases are devastating the planet

According to a 1981 report, following a nuclear war, diseases such as salmonella, dysentery, typhoid, malaria, dengue fever and encephalitis would spread widely among survivors. New England Journal of Medicine.

Survivors will not only have no access to clean water, but insects will multiply rapidly and feed on the corpses strewn on the streets.

Not only will untreated sewage carry more diseases, but the emergence of trillions of radiation-resistant insects will allow these pathogens to be carried from dead people and animals to those still living around the world.

In areas where there is a power outage, medical equipment powered by electricity without a generator may become unusable.

A 1986 report titled Warns of Medical Consequences of Nuclear War: ‘Many known barriers to the spread of infectious diseases… would be seriously compromised in their absence in the post-attack environment.’

‘A number of intestinal diseases that most Americans have not yet encountered can be expected to spread widely,’ the report continued.

These diseases include hepatitis, a viral liver infection that can cause inflammation and jaundice, and E. coli, a potentially fatal bacterial intestinal infection that often leads to severe diarrhea, cramps and dehydration, according to the National Library of Medicine.

The idea of ​​a ‘nuclear winter’ first came to the world’s attention in an article written by scientist Carl Sagan in 1983 (Stock Image)

Russia’s Sarmat-2 intercontinental nuclear missile in a successful test launch on April 20, 2022

‘Ultraviolet spring’

Nuclear war could destroy the ozone layer and expose survivors to cancer-causing ultraviolet radiation from the unfiltered sun. The intense rays of the sun can also destroy most of the remaining food sources.

Researchers first realized in the 1970s that nuclear fireballs would produce nitrogen oxide, which would be transported into the stratosphere and chemically destroy ozone molecules.

A. 1975 study by the National Academy of SciencesNuclear explosions could deplete the ozone layer by up to 70 percent in an all-out nuclear war in which a 10,000-megaton weapon is detonated.

However, this amount of damage far exceeds what the combined nuclear arsenals on Earth currently have.

John W. Birks of the University of Colorado wrote:: ‘Once most of the smoke and dust had cleared from the atmosphere and sunlight began to refract, the biosphere would receive not normal sunlight, but sunlight highly enriched in ultraviolet radiation.’

The resulting increase in UV-B radiation will cause more skin cancer in surviving humans and will also have devastating effects on crops and wildlife.

Recent research has suggested that the effects of even a ‘minor’ nuclear war, such as a hypothetical conflict between India and Pakistan, have the potential to destroy up to 40 per cent of the ozone layer.

Michael Mills, lead study author CU-Boulder’s Atmospheric and Space Physics Laboratory said:: ‘We will see a dramatic drop in ozone levels that will continue for many years.’

‘Ozone depletion in mid-latitudes will be as much as 40 per cent and this could have major impacts on human health and terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems.’

Tests of the first US nuclear weapons during the Manhattan Project in World War II

‘Black rain’

The fires created by the first atomic bomb dropped in the Second World War in Hiroshima, Japan, carried ash and radioactive materials into the clouds. The result was ‘black rain’ that fell with an oily consistency, almost like tar.

Rain fell on the city in the hours after the bomb exploded, causing serious radiation burns in some cases.

The effects of weather conditions on radiation can be unpredictable; The 1953 Nevada bomb tests led to ‘hot spots’ where large amounts of radiation lurked.

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that lethal fallout can spread hundreds of kilometers from the explosion site.

Fallout is radioactive dust and particles that fall back to Earth after a nuclear explosion. This windborne material can mix with dirt or debris in the blast area and contaminate anything it touches.

Researchers write Medical Consequences of Nuclear War He suggested that up to seven percent of the United States could be covered by enough fallout to deliver a radiation dose large enough to kill within two days.

Black rain fell on the victims of the atomic bomb dropped by the USA on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.

global hunger

It is estimated that as many as five billion people would starve to death following a full-scale nuclear war.

The soot from the burning cities would fly into the air and surround the planet. The massive smoke cloud would rapidly cool the planet by reflecting sunlight back into space.

This will cause crops to dry out and make it impossible to plant the same foods for at least the next year. According to 2022 Nature research.

Firestorms can kill people even in shelters

Doomsday preppers and other survival experts have long noted that the safest place to be during a nuclear attack is a well-protected fallout shelter or some type of underground basement.

However, scientists suggest that fires caused by explosions can kill those living in shelters.

Collapsed buildings and exploding fuel tanks or gas lines can combine to ignite what researchers call a ‘firestorm’. This type of ‘fire wind’ will quickly reach storm strength and blow inwards from all directions.

included in the research Journal of Public Health Policy suggested that temperatures even in bomb shelters and basements would quickly rise to lethal levels during a surface firestorm.

The researchers added that the fire would completely consume the available oxygen, meaning those who did not burn to death would suffocate.