One of the high-profile topics in the Western press was the discussion of the question of the survival of Russians and Chinese in a nuclear strike. The topic came, as they say, from the very top: the US Strategic Command and the office of the Director of National Intelligence jointly assess the ability of Moscow and Beijing to "survive a nuclear strike." Meanwhile, at the Cato Institute, they state with sadness: the “alternative” to the dialogue between the United States and the Russian Federation is “nuclear confrontation”.

US intelligence agencies and the Pentagon Strategic Command are working on a new assessment of the ability of the Russian and Chinese leadership to "survive a nuclear strike" and "keep working," according to the office of the Director of National Intelligence and US Strategic Command.

The new study is being commissioned by Congress. The decision to hold it was made even before D. Trump took office as president. The program to assess the nuclear "survivability" of Russians and Chinese has received the approval of both leading US parties. Members of the Democratic and Republican parties "express deep concern" over China's growing military ambitions and mistrust of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The publication recalls that Mr. Trump recently promised to “significantly strengthen and expand” the US nuclear potential. He also said that he could make a “deal” with Putin: easing sanctions in exchange for future reductions in nuclear arsenals.

Legislators want National Intelligence and US Strategic Command (the one that plans and, in the event of war, delivers nuclear strikes) to assess the "possibility" of an attack by two nuclear powers: Russia and China. Congressmen want to know how capable of survival, management and command of the leadership of these two states today.

The report, which will appear in the near future, should include "the location and description of above-ground and underground structures of importance to the political and military leadership", as well as "facilities" in which "senior leaders" are expected to work during a military crisis.

Strategic Command is also required to provide a detailed description of the "level of survivability" and the ability to "command and control" the United States in the event of a war with Russia and China.

The request was initiated by Republican Michael Turner, a member of the House Armed Services Committee's Strategic Forces Subcommittee.

"Our experts are developing a report," Navy Capt. Brooke DeWalt, a spokesman for Strategic Command, wrote in an email to Bloomberg. He indicated that it was too early to talk about the details. Details will certainly be, but later.

President Trump is not sitting idle either. He once again "signaled" support for the idea of ​​modernizing the US nuclear arsenal. On Friday, in a special memo, he ordered Secretary of Defense James Mattis to make a new review of the state's nuclear policy. The nuclear deterrence of the United States must meet the criteria of modernity, flexibility, readiness and must meet the threats of the 21st century.

Bloomberg further notes that the US government is planning (at least that's what arms control proponents say) for a trillion-dollar upgrade of its nuclear arsenals. The money will be used to improve the nuclear "triad". Such plans are not actually the plans of the new administration; they were approved by Barack Obama.

Mr. Trump is acting, apparently, within the framework of Obama's plans. The United States "should significantly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability," he said. He himself wrote about this at the end of December on Twitter. According to one MSNBC anchor, Trump also allegedly said in the same phone conversation, “Let there be an arms race. We will surpass them every step of the way and outlive them all!”

Finally, it was Trump and his national security team who promised to "stand against China" on a range of issues, from trade to China's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

What does it mean? Is the clock ticking? Is Judgment Day coming?

Last week, the newspaper recalls, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists reported an increase in nuclear risks. "Nuclear risk" is considered by experts as one of the main threats to the planet, along with climate change. The world is on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe.

Michael Turner says the US “must understand how China and Russia intend to wage war and how their leadership will command and control potential conflict. This knowledge is critical to our ability to deter threats.” The Republican clarified that Russia and China "have made significant efforts and invested significant funds" to understand how America can counteract their activities. Including Turner noted "interference in communication opportunities relating to our leadership." "We must not ignore the gaps in our current understanding of key adversary capabilities," he added.

Franklin Miller, a former senior Pentagon official who has served under seven different secretaries of defense and on the National Security Council (senior director of defense policy and arms control), said in an interview with the publication that the American strategy is designed to make it clear to would-be leaders that they "do not can win a nuclear war."

The leaders of Russia and China are planning to use nuclear missiles fired from command bunkers "buried deep underground or deep within mountains," said Bruce Blair, a Princeton University nuclear disarmament researcher. As this expert believes, Mr. Turner's statement implies that deterring the Russians and Chinese "requires American strategic cruise missiles that can maneuver around mountains and can hit bunkers from any angle."

Our beautiful planet. Photo: Julia Caesar

Oskar Jonsson, a visiting researcher at UC Berkeley and PhD candidate at the Department of War Studies at King's College London, quotes General Stanley McChrystal as "shocking".

The general announced the possibility of war in Europe, and it is not at all about Ukraine. The war will start "outside the ongoing conflict" in this country. According to the military, "a European war is not at all an unthinkable thing." People who want to think that war in Europe is impossible can get a "surprise". The war is real, and this war will be with Russia.

The general idea in a nutshell: increased activity “can lead to incidents and unintended escalations.” The bottom line is that Russia already sees itself at war with the West, although there is no open war at the moment. The economic sanctions imposed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, notes the future doctor of science, who is writing a dissertation on the relevant topic, are not perceived by Moscow as a "moderate response from the West." Most likely, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov put it, the sanctions are seen as an attempt to provoke regime change in Russia. In addition, the very perception by Russians of such behavior of the West in the international arena "has a longer history." The regime in Russia is convinced that the West has mastered the technique of “color revolutions” well and, wherever it suits geopolitical interests, initiates regime change. The technique includes an information offensive, financing of non-governmental organizations, the introduction of "special services", as well as diplomatic pressure - all "in the name of democracy." The regime in the Kremlin is thus convinced that the West is already at war, albeit for the time being using "non-military means".

Therefore, a war with the Russians is hardly “unthinkable”. If it really was unthinkable, why then all these current exercises and the transfer of military forces from the United States to Europe?

In the meantime, the Cato Institute has identified the next "alternative" to the dialogue between Washington and Moscow: a nuclear confrontation.

T. G. Carpenter told about this at.

Ted Galen Carpenter is a Senior Defense and Foreign Policy Fellow at the Cato Institute and a contributing editor for The National Interest. He is the author of a dozen books and 650 articles on the international situation.

In his material, he reveals the "simple reason" why Russia and America are heading "toward a crisis."

Tensions between the United States and Russia increased sharply in the last months of B. Obama's rule. American forces with heavy equipment were deployed in the eastern part of Poland, right on the country's border with Russia. This decision provoked an angry rebuke from Moscow. "Reboot" irretrievably sunk into the past.

However, the truth is that the tension did not start under Obama. Difficulties in bilateral relations have intensified over the past two decades, the author believes. Even in the first years after the end of the Cold War, that is, during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin, the White House did not have confidence in Russia. Is it worth talking about the times of Putin, Yeltsin's successor? Hence the expansion of NATO, the first "round" of which occurred in 1998 (under Yeltsin, that is, long before American officials could point to Putin's aggressive actions).

From Washington's perspective, under Putin, Russia has become "a thinly disguised dictatorship with expansionist ambitions."

American officials believe that Moscow has committed a number of "serious crimes": Crimea, eastern Ukraine, the Republic of Georgia and, finally, Syria, where the Russians supported the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The list of Russia's grievances is even longer. NATO intervention in Bosnia and Kosovo, several stages of NATO expansion, attempts to draw Georgia and Ukraine into NATO, US and EU interference in the internal political affairs of Ukraine in 2014, which led to the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation.

Policies on all these issues reflect the conflicting approaches of the United States and Russia. Where American officials see themselves as "nobility," the Russians find provocations and worse.

In the author's opinion, Moscow is more right in its claims than Washington is in its own. In addition, "Moscow's fault" is clearly exaggerated. Look at others. Do US officials think that China's dealings in the South China Sea, Turkey's policy towards Iraq and Syria, or Saudi Arabia's actions in Bahrain and Yemen do not warrant a similar consideration?

The expert has some hopes for the Trump administration. What if hope remains hope? If Trump does not restore relations with Russia, does not ease tensions, then there will be one alternative: a dangerous confrontation with Russia, which has "thousands of nuclear weapons."

There are other materials in the Western press that discuss the topic of a possible nuclear war between Russia and the United States. It is not possible to cover all of them in one review. However, even a small review shows how seriously the topic of a nuclear catastrophe is taken in reputable Western publications.

The buildup of nuclear weapons was and remains a dangerous path leading to the end of mankind. If two or three politicians, preoccupied with their ambitions, do not understand this simple truth, then let us remind them once again: it only takes one ridiculous incident or a monstrous mistake, and a fatal catastrophe will lead the planet to nuclear winter. The war of machine guns and tanks is terrible, and yet humanity has experienced many such wars, small and large. But the war of missiles with nuclear warheads will be the last. Russian scientists are already offering the cultural values ​​of humanity to the moon, and their idea does not seem completely crazy.

Must be Trump with his statements like “Let there be an arms race. We will surpass them every step of the way and outlive them all!” I really want to manage the ruins of the United States from underground.

Like another Republican, Bush Jr., it's time for Mr. Trump to see a psychiatrist. However, Bush could not be cured.

Their only enemy in World War II was Japan, which also had to surrender soon. It was at this point that the United States decided to show its military might. On August 6 and 9, they dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after which Japan finally capitulated. AiF.ru recalls the stories of people who managed to survive this nightmare.

According to various sources, from the explosion itself and in the first weeks after it, from 90 to 166 thousand people died in Hiroshima, and from 60 to 80 thousand in Nagasaki. However, there were those who managed to stay alive.

In Japan, such people are called hibakusha or hibakusha. This category includes not only the survivors themselves, but also the second generation - children born to women who suffered from the explosions.

In March 2012, there were 210 thousand people officially recognized by the government as hibakusha, and more than 400 thousand did not live to this moment.

Most of the remaining hibakusha live in Japan. They receive some state support, but in Japanese society there is a prejudiced attitude towards them, bordering on discrimination. For example, they and their children may not be hired, so sometimes they deliberately hide their status.

miraculous rescue

An extraordinary story happened to the Japanese Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who survived both bombings. Summer 1945 young engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who worked for Mitsubishi, went on a business trip to Hiroshima. When the Americans dropped an atomic bomb on the city, it was only 3 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion.

Tsutomu Yamaguchi's eardrums were blown out by the blast, and an incredibly bright white light blinded him for a while. He received severe burns, but still survived. Yamaguchi reached the station, found his wounded colleagues, and with them went home to Nagasaki, where he became the victim of a second bombardment.

By an evil twist of fate, Tsutomu Yamaguchi was again 3 kilometers from the epicenter. When he was telling his boss at the company office about what happened to him in Hiroshima, the same white light suddenly flooded the room. Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived this explosion as well.

Two days later, he received another large dose of radiation when he almost came close to the epicenter of the explosion, unaware of the danger.

Long years of rehabilitation, suffering and health problems followed. Tsutomu Yamaguchi's wife also suffered from the bombing - she fell under the black radioactive rain. Not escaped the consequences of radiation sickness and their children, some of them died of cancer. Despite all this, Tsutomu Yamaguchi after the war got a job again, lived like everyone else and supported his family. Until he was old, he tried not to attract much attention to himself.

In 2010, Tsutomu Yamaguchi passed away from cancer at the age of 93. He became the only person who was officially recognized by the Japanese government as a victim of the bombings in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Life is like a struggle

When the bomb fell on Nagasaki, the 16-year-old Sumiteru Taniguchi delivering mail on a bike. In his own words, he saw what looked like a rainbow, then the blast wave threw him off his bike to the ground and destroyed nearby houses.

After the explosion, the teenager survived, but was seriously injured. The tattered skin hung in tatters from his arms, and there was none on his back at all. At the same time, according to Sumiteru Taniguchi, he did not feel pain, but his strength left him.

With difficulty, he found other victims, but most of them died the night after the explosion. Three days later, Sumiteru Taniguchi was rescued and sent to the hospital.

In 1946, an American photographer took the famous photograph of Sumiteru Taniguchi with horrific burns on his back. The young man's body was mutilated for life

For several years after the war, Sumiteru Taniguchi could only lie on his stomach. He was released from the hospital in 1949, but his wounds were not properly treated until 1960. In total, Sumiteru Taniguchi underwent 10 operations.

Recovery was aggravated by the fact that then people first encountered radiation sickness and did not yet know how to treat it.

The tragedy experienced had a huge impact on Sumiteru Taniguchi. He devoted his whole life to the fight against the spread of nuclear weapons, became a well-known activist and chairman of the Council of victims during the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki.

Today, 84-year-old Sumiteru Taniguchi lectures around the world about the terrible consequences of the use of nuclear weapons and why they should be abandoned.

Round orphan

For 16 year old Mikoso Iwasa August 6 was a typical hot summer day. He was in the yard of his house when the neighboring children suddenly saw a plane in the sky. Then an explosion followed. Despite the fact that the teenager was less than one and a half kilometers from the epicenter, the wall of the house protected him from the heat and the blast wave.

However, Mikoso Iwasa's family was not so lucky. The boy's mother was at that time in the house, she was filled with rubble, and she could not get out. He lost his father before the explosion, and his sister was never found. So Mikoso Iwasa became an orphan.

And although Mikoso Iwasa miraculously escaped severe burns, he still received a huge dose of radiation. Due to radiation sickness, he lost his hair, his body became covered with a rash, his nose and gums began to bleed. He has been diagnosed with cancer three times.

His life, like the lives of many other hibakusha, turned into misery. He was forced to live with this pain, with this invisible disease for which there is no cure and which is slowly killing a person.

Among hibakusha, it is customary to remain silent about this, but Mikoso Iwasa did not remain silent. Instead, he became involved in the fight against the spread of nuclear weapons and helping other hibakusha.

To date, Mikiso Iwasa is one of the three chairmen of the Japan Confederation of Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb Victims Organizations.

Was it necessary to bomb Japan at all?

Disputes about the advisability and ethical side of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have not subsided to this day.

Initially, the American authorities insisted that they were necessary to force Japan to capitulate as soon as possible and thereby prevent the losses among its own soldiers that would be possible in the event of a US invasion of the Japanese islands.

However, according to many historians, the surrender of Japan even before the bombing was a matter of course. It was only a matter of time.

The decision to drop bombs on Japanese cities turned out to be rather political - the United States wanted to scare the Japanese and demonstrate their military power to the whole world.

It is also important to mention that not all American officials and high-ranking military officials supported this decision. Among those who considered the bombings unnecessary was Army General Dwight Eisenhower who later became President of the United States.

Hibakusha's attitude towards explosions is unequivocal. They believe that the tragedy they experienced should never be repeated in the history of mankind. And that is why some of them dedicated their lives to the fight for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

After the bombs begin to fall, the appearance of the planet will change beyond recognition. For 50 years, this threat has lurked in every moment of our lives. The world lives with the knowledge that one person just needs to press a button and a nuclear holocaust will come.

We stopped thinking about it. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the idea of ​​a massive nuclear strike has become the subject of science fiction films and video games. But in reality, this threat has not disappeared. The bombs are still in place and waiting in the wings. And there are always new enemies to be destroyed.

Scientists conducted tests and calculations to understand what life would be like after the atomic bombing. Some people will survive. But life on the smoldering remains of a destroyed world will be completely different.

10. Black rains will begin


Almost immediately after a nuclear strike, heavy black rain will begin. It won't be the little rain that puts out the flames and kills the dust. These will be thick black jets of water with an oil-like texture, and they can kill you.

In Hiroshima, black rain began 20 minutes after the bombing. It covered an area with a radius of about 20 kilometers from the point of explosion and flooded the countryside with a thick liquid, from which one could receive 100 times more radiation than at the epicenter of the explosion.

The survivors of the explosion ended up in a burning city, the fires burned out oxygen, and people died of thirst. They were so thirsty as they made their way through the fire that many opened their mouths and tried to drink the strange liquid that fell from the sky. There was enough radiation in this liquid to make changes in a person's blood. The radiation was so strong that the effects of the rain are still felt in the places where it fell. We have every reason to believe that if the bomb falls again, it will happen again.

9. An electromagnetic pulse will cut off all electricity


A nuclear explosion produces an electromagnetic pulse that can disable electrical appliances and even turn off the entire electrical network of the country.

During one of the nuclear tests, the impulse after the detonation of the atomic bomb was so powerful that it disabled street lights, televisions and telephones in houses at a distance of 1600 kilometers from the center of the explosion. Then it happened by accident, but since then there have been bombs designed specifically for this purpose.

If a bomb designed to send an electromagnetic pulse exploded at an altitude of 400-480 kilometers above a country the size of the United States, the entire electrical network throughout the territory would be cut off. Therefore, after the bombs fall, the lights will go out everywhere. All refrigerators for storing food will be turned off, all computer data will be lost. Worst of all, the treatment facilities will stop and we will lose clean drinking water.

It is expected that it will take six months of hard work to return the country to a normal working regime. But this is on condition that people will have the opportunity to work. For a long time after the bombs fall, we will have a life without electricity and clean water.

8. Smoke will block the sunlight


Areas around the epicenters of explosions will receive an incredible amount of energy, fires will break out. Everything that can burn will burn. Not only buildings, forests and fences will burn, but even asphalt on the roads. Oil refineries, which have been one of the main targets since the Cold War, will be engulfed in explosions and flames.

The fires that start around the epicenter of each explosion will release thousands of tons of toxic smoke that will rise into the atmosphere and then higher into the stratosphere. At an altitude of about 15 kilometers above the Earth's surface, a dark cloud will appear, which will grow and spread under the influence of the wind until it covers the entire planet and blocks the access of sunlight.

This will drag on for years. For many years after the explosion, we will not see the sun, we will only be able to see black clouds overhead that will block out the light. It is difficult to say exactly how long this will last and when blue skies will reappear above us. It is believed that in the event of a global nuclear war, we will not see clear skies for about 30 years.

7. It will get too cold to grow food.

When the clouds cover the sunlight, it will start to get colder. How much - depends on the number of bombs exploded. In extreme cases, global temperatures are expected to drop by as much as 20 degrees Celsius.

In the first year after a nuclear disaster, there will be no summer. Spring and autumn will become like winter. Plants will not be able to grow. Animals all over the planet will starve to death.

This will not be the beginning of a new ice age. During the first five years, the growing seasons of plants will become a month shorter, but then the situation will gradually improve, and after 25 years the temperature will return to normal. Life will go on - if we can live up to this period.

6. The ozone layer will be destroyed


However, this life can no longer be called normal. A year after the nuclear bombing, holes in the ozone layer will begin to appear due to atmospheric pollution. It will be destructive. Even a small nuclear war that uses only 0.03 percent of the world's arsenal could destroy up to 50 percent of the ozone layer.

The world will die from ultraviolet rays. Plants around the world will begin to die, and those living beings that manage to survive will have to go through painful DNA mutations. Even the most resilient crops will become weaker, smaller and much less likely to reproduce. So when the skies clear and the world warms up again, growing food will become an incredibly difficult task. When people try to grow food, entire fields will die, and farmers who stay in the sun long enough will die of skin cancer.

5. Billions of people will starve


After a full scale nuclear war, it would take about five years before anyone could grow a reasonable amount of food. With low temperatures, deadly frosts and damaging ultraviolet radiation from the sky, not many crops can live long enough to harvest. Millions of people will die of hunger.

Those who survive will have to find ways to get food, but it won't be easy. People living near the ocean may have a slightly better chance because the seas will cool more slowly. But life in the oceans will still be scarce.

The darkness from the blocked sky will kill the plankton, the main food source that keeps the ocean alive. Radioactive contamination will also accumulate in the water, reducing the number of living organisms and making any animal caught dangerous to eat.

Most of the people who survive the explosions will die within the first five years. The food will be too scarce and the competition too fierce.

4. Canned food will remain safe


One of the main ways people survive in their first five years will be to drink bottled water and canned food - just as it is described in fiction, tightly sealed food bags will remain safe.

Scientists conducted an experiment in which they left bottled beer and soda water near the site of a nuclear explosion. The bottles were covered with a thick layer of radioactive dust on the outside, but their contents remained safe. Only those drinks that were almost at the epicenter became radioactive, but even their level of radiation was not lethal. However, the testing team rated these drinks as "unfit for food".

It is believed that canned foods will be as safe as these bottled drinks. It is also believed that water from deep underground wells may be safe to drink. Thus, the struggle for survival will be a struggle for access to village wells and food.

3. Bones will suffer from radiation


Regardless of access to food, survivors will have to fight widespread cancer. Immediately after the explosion, a huge amount of radioactive dust will rise into the air, which will then begin to fall all over the world. The dust will be too fine to see, but the level of radiation in it will be large enough to kill.

One of the substances used in nuclear weapons is strontium-90, which the body mistakes for calcium and sends directly to the bone marrow and teeth. This leads to bone cancer.

It is not known what the level of radiation will be. It is not entirely clear how long the radioactive dust will begin to settle. But if it takes long enough, we can survive. If the dust begins to settle in only two weeks, its radioactivity will decrease by 1000 times, and this will be enough for survival. Cancer will increase, life expectancy will shorten, birth defects will become commonplace, but humanity will not be destroyed.

2. Widespread hurricanes and storms will begin


During the first two or three years of cold and darkness, unprecedented hurricanes can be expected. Dust in the stratosphere will not only block out sunlight, but will also affect the weather.

Clouds will become different, they will contain much more moisture. Until things return to normal, we can expect it to rain almost constantly.

In coastal areas it will be even worse. Although a global nuclear winter will come due to a cold snap, the oceans will cool much more slowly. They will be relatively warm, which will cause massive storms along all coasts. Hurricanes and typhoons will cover all the coasts in the world, and this will last for years.

1. Humanity will survive


Billions will die in a nuclear war. We can expect that about 500 million people will die immediately, and several billion more will die from hunger and cold.

However, there is every reason to believe that the hardiest handful of people can handle it. There won't be many of them, but it's a much more positive vision of a post-apocalyptic future than what came before. In the 1980s, all scientists agreed that the entire planet would be destroyed. But today we have a little more faith that some people will be able to survive.

After 25-30 years, the clouds will dissipate, the temperature will return to normal, life will begin again. Plants will appear. They may not be as fluffy as they used to be. But in a few decades, the world may look like modern-day Chernobyl, where dense forests rise above the remains of a dead city.

Life will continue and humanity will be reborn. But the world will never be the same again.

Just one nuclear explosion can cause irreparable damage. And what if a real nuclear war (nuclear apocalypse) starts in the world and there will be hundreds and thousands of such explosions. All this will forever change the face of our planet beyond recognition, and the world after a nuclear war will never be the same as it is now. The history of mankind still remembers the time when there were disagreements between the countries that possessed nuclear weapons. And then the whole world lived with bated breath and fear that someone would simply press the button and start the nuclear apocalypse. At present, they are not so worried about this, because agreements have been concluded between most countries on the settlement of their nuclear arsenal. You can learn more about this agreement, as well as see the list of participating countries in the article on Wikipedia. And we continue.

First, briefly and in general terms, let's see what is a nuclear explosion?

• If the threat of a nuclear attack becomes real, then it will be announced through TV, radio, loudspeakers in the streets and other means, in general, you will definitely know about the threat.
• After that, you need to immediately go to shelters, the addresses of which will be called upon notification. If they are not nearby, then you can go to the subway, underground parking, sewerage, or simply to the basement. All this can save you from damaging factors.
• After the explosion, powerful light radiation of thermal energy is formed, burning everything. It can last up to 15 seconds.
• Then comes the shock war, a powerful air current that rushes at the speed of sound and demolishes everything in its path.
• At the time of the explosion, a powerful bomb can cause serious damage to an area with a diameter of up to several tens of kilometers.
• Then the worst begins, the wind carries radioactive substances over hundreds of kilometers, infecting vast territories. We will talk about the rest of the horrors of nuclear explosions later.

Today, we often see nuclear explosions and their consequences in movies and video games. But in fact, this threat to the real world has not disappeared anywhere. The nukes are still in place, waiting for someone to activate them and aim them at their target. And no matter how small the chances of such a development of events are, they are, and many people, among whom there are eminent scientists, think about the consequences of such events. To better understand how people's lives will change after a nuclear war, scientists conduct a variety of tests and simulations. And they have repeatedly found out that despite the gigantic losses of people, some will still manage to survive and they will find themselves in very harsh conditions. After all, life on the smoldering remains of a destroyed world will be completely different. And many people wonder what will happen after a nuclear war. Let's take a look at 10 brutal realities of life after the explosion of thousands of nuclear bombs.

1 black rain

Soon after the explosions of nuclear bombs, which will bring great destruction, black rain will begin to fall from the sky. Moreover, it will not be rain in the direct understanding of this phenomenon by people. This rain will not be able to bring down the flames and clean the streets of dust. These will be large black textural drops, slightly reminiscent of oil. These drops will continue to kill survivors.

For example, after the well-known nuclear bomb explosion in Hiroshima, black rain began about 20 minutes later. It covered an area of ​​about 20 km, covered everything with a thick black liquid, which was very radioactive - the radiation was about 100 times stronger than at the epicenter of the nuclear explosion itself. Some time after these terrible events, when the city was already destroyed and its last remnants were burning down, the surviving people were tormented by thirst. Out of desperation, they began to drink this strange black liquid that fell from the sky. And thus they killed themselves, since the increased radiation instantly made changes and penetrated into the blood of people. As experts note so far in places that have come under the influence of this black manure, there is an increased level of radiation and the consequences of this catastrophe are visible. Therefore, many assume that if a similar phenomenon is repeated after other explosions of nuclear bombs, and there will be hundreds of times more such explosions, then black rain can cover most of the territory of our planet with its substance, continuing to pollute it and kill all life.

2 Electricity will be cut off by electromagnetic pulse

After a nuclear explosion, a powerful pulse of electromagnetic radiation is generated, which can turn off the entire electrical system, even in an entire country. So all cities after a nuclear war will plunge into darkness. When this phenomenon was studied, a test explosion of a nuclear bomb was carried out and the subsequent after that electromagnetic radiation was so strong that it turned off street lights, televisions and telephones in the homes of residents located 1600 km from the epicenter of the explosion. Of course, no one expected such a result, so they called what happened just an accident, without going into details. And this discovery allowed the military to realize that they could send powerful electromagnetic pulses with the help of a nuclear bomb detonation and turn off the electricity in a wide area if necessary. For example, to cut off all the electrical grids in a country the size of the United States of America, a bomb would have to be detonated at an altitude of about 400 km. Then a powerful impulse will just be able to cover such a territory.

In general, electromagnetic pulses will turn off all light bulbs, turn off all household appliances, destroy data on computers, turn off all treatment facilities, thanks to which clean drinking water enters our homes, and cause a lot of other damage. Presumably, it will take 6 months of hard work to more or less restore the operation of all these systems. But during all this time, people will have to live without clean water and electricity, and there will be a lot of other dangers around.

3 The smoke will cover the sun

The incredible amount of energy released during a nuclear explosion will detonate all explosive objects. That is, everything that can burn will burn. Due to the increased temperature, entire buildings, forests and even asphalt on the roads will flare up. Not to mention oil refineries, gas stations and everything related to oil, gasoline, gas and other flammable substances. Fires will be everywhere, and as a result, ash and toxic smoke will rise from them into the air. All this will rise into the atmosphere, and then into the upper layers of the stratosphere. As a result, dark clouds impenetrable to light will envelop the earth at a height of about 15 kilometers. They will move and grow in size due to the winds until they cover the entire planet. As a result, the planet after a nuclear war will become cold and dark. Such conditions will persist for several years after a nuclear war. People, going out into the street, will not see the picture they are used to, but will see only black clouds above their heads, which will hide the sunlight. It is difficult to say how long it will take for this cloud to dissipate and the blue color of the sky return. But scientists have calculated that if a nuclear war affects our entire planet, then the surviving humanity will not be able to see a clear sky and the sun for about 30 years.

4 Nothing will grow because of the cold

As soon as the sun is cut off by a dense layer of smoke, the temperature on Earth will quickly begin to decrease. According to preliminary measures, the global temperature in the world can immediately drop by 20 degrees. In the event of a complete nuclear apocalypse, in the first year after it, there will be no summer anywhere on the planet at all. Instead, in all seasons of the year, the street will feel like a very cold winter, or the frost will be even stronger than usual. Of course, in such conditions it will be almost impossible to grow food. The surviving animals will also not be able to find food for themselves and will starve until they eventually die. All planted vegetables and other crops will quickly wither and die. Of course, a new Ice Age will not begin on earth, but for at least 5 years the air will be too cold for any plants to grow. And after about 25 years, the temperature on the planet will begin to return to its norm, the sun will reappear and all seasons will appear again, and even then it will be possible to say that all plants planted by people with at least some more or less high probability will survive and bring the fruits.

5 The ozone layer will be destroyed

A nuclear apocalypse and all of the above consequences will lead to the fact that the ozone layer will begin to break down. It will literally have holes in it. Moreover, according to scientists, if only 0.03 percent of the entire nuclear arsenal of all countries is blown up in the world, then the ozone layer will be destroyed by about 50%. But if all available nuclear charges are blown up, then there may be nothing left of it at all. After that, ultraviolet rays will begin to devastate the surface of our planet. Many living creatures and plants that manage to survive after the explosions will die. And those who still manage to survive will undergo painful mutations. Moreover, this will affect even the most resistant to external factors crops and animals. They will become much weaker and will multiply much less often, and this will lead to the fact that even when the long winter ends on the planet, which we mentioned a little higher, and the sun reappears in the sky, again starting to heat its surface, people will not be so just grow something. Planted plants will die in whole fields, and the people who will work in these fields and try to help the plants will also be in mortal danger, since ultraviolet rays will cause severe burns, as well as the rapid development of skin cancer.

6 General hunger strike

For about 5 years after a large-scale nuclear war, the surviving people will be forced to starve, as they will not be able to grow enough food. Low temperatures, frosts, powerful ultraviolet radiation will lead to the fact that most of the crops grown will simply die. After a nuclear war, people who manage to escape will be deprived of food and will be forced to starve until death. In this situation, those who live near large water bodies, such as seas and oceans, will have a much better chance of survival. The fact is that although life in the oceans will become more scarce, the plankton that a lot of marine life feeds on will die, some fish species will still survive and be able to exist for some time while the water slowly cools. Of course, radioactive contamination will also accumulate in the water, which will kill animals, and possibly even people, if they catch these animals and eat them. In general, in such harsh conditions, food for survivors will be very scarce, and competition will be very tough, so not a small part of the survivors, most likely, will not be able to cope with life in these conditions and will die in the next 5 years.

7 Canned food is the main basis of the diet

But this will not yet mean that mankind will be doomed to death in the first 5 years after a nuclear war. The situation can be slightly improved by eating foods that were bottled or canned earlier. In many films and books about nuclear war, you can see how survivors just eat food tightly sealed in bags, cans or bottles. And scientists have confirmed this fact by conducting a dangerous experiment. During the test of a nuclear bomb, they placed beer and soda nearby, which were tightly sealed in glass bottles. After the explosion, these bottles were found and carefully examined. There was indeed a very heavy layer of radiation on their surface, but the contents of the bottles turned out to be safe and you could safely drink it. Only those drinks that were in the immediate vicinity of the center of a nuclear explosion became radioactive. But experts noted that the level of contamination of the contents of these bottles was very low and in the event of an apocalypse they could be eaten, since they would not have a critical effect on the body. To prove this, scientists even drank these drinks on their own and answered only that their taste had not changed, but they had lost any aroma. It is also believed that during the apocalypse, all the water that was on the surface will be contaminated, however, from deep underground wells, pure water will still flow, which can be drunk without fear. But among the survivors, a struggle will begin for control of such wells, deep wells and of course warehouses with a supply of canned food and bottled drinks.

8 Bones will be hit by chemical radiation

Even if people find somewhere to hide, warm themselves and what to eat, their life will still be unbearable, as cancer will begin to haunt everyone. The fact is that radiation after a nuclear war, or rather radioactive particles, will first rise into the sky, and then fall back to the surface of the earth. These particles are so small that people simply do not see them, but despite this, they are fraught with mortal danger. For example, the chemical substance strontium-90 is able to deceive the human body. After a person inhales this substance or ingests it in other ways, the body thinks it is calcium and sends it straight to our bones, teeth, brain and other parts of the body, which unknowingly receive toxic chemicals that destroy them. They will also cause cancer. In general, the chances of getting cancer in a post-apocalyptic world will be much higher, people's life expectancy will be reduced, children will often be born with defects and abnormalities, but even so, humanity will still exist.

9 Long and powerful hurricanes will begin

During the first 2-3 years, along with complete darkness and severe frosts, powerful hurricanes will rage in the world, which mankind has never encountered in the modern world. The fact is that all the dust, smoke and small fragments that rise into the atmosphere will not easily block the sunlight, but will also affect the weather. Clouds will form in a different way, they will be more massive and will bring heavy rains to the surface, accompanied by very strong winds. Especially powerful storms will occur along the ocean, as the temperature of the land will drop quickly and the water will cool more slowly, and because of this drop, hurricanes and typhoons will cause additional damage to everything that will be on the coast. It will rain almost constantly there, flooding everything around. And in such conditions, people will have to survive for years.

10 People will survive!

Hundreds of millions of people will die as a result of a nuclear apocalypse. At least half a billion people will die immediately during the direct explosions. Survivors will begin to starve to death or freeze from cold and other factors, still trying to survive in the new world. But it is generally accepted that in any case there will be a part of people who will be able to endure all these misfortunes and the consequences of nuclear explosions. There won't be many of them, but still the fact that someone will survive and be able to rebuild civilization is a more positive vision of a post-apocalyptic future. It should be noted that this is commonly believed at the present time, and even around the 1980s, scientists around the world were sure that in the event of a nuclear war, no one would have a chance and the planet would simply be destroyed. Now, many believe that humanity will not be wiped off the face of the Earth, and in about 30 years, when the dense clouds dissipate and the temperature begins to return to its climatic norm, people will be able to return to a more or less normal life, starting everything from scratch. Plants will also begin to cover the surface of our planet again, but they will not be the same as before. In a few more decades, the scorched surface of the Earth will already be covered with trees and the picture will be somewhat reminiscent of what can be seen today in Chernobyl, where dense forests grow right among the buildings of an abandoned city. And even today's largest metropolitan areas will take on this form. In the meantime, life will go on, people will survive, overcoming all the difficulties of life in a post-apocalyptic world. So there is a future after a nuclear war. And although it will be very difficult, humanity will have a chance to survive.

That's all, we hope, now you have at least a little idea how to survive after a nuclear war and what difficulties you will have to face.

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In recent days, everyone is just discussing whether the third world war between the USA and Russia will begin or not. In the media and social networks, you constantly come across materials about the coming "nuclear apocalypse", which in turn provokes attacks of fear and hysteria in many. Over the past years, we have already managed to forget the warning signals, and the younger generation knows about the threat only from computer games. Life tells what to do if a mushroom cloud appears on the horizon.

Outside, of course, is not the Caribbean crisis, but the degree of paranoia in the air has risen sharply. And although no one promises to turn other countries into "nuclear ashes", there are still enough reasons. The last of these is the US threat to launch a missile attack on Syria.

The nuclear threat has already been erased from people's memory. It is unlikely that anyone will now name what one long beep and two short beeps mean, or quickly answer where the nearest bomb shelter is. A nuclear mushroom on the horizon has become something like a zombie apocalypse - pure fantasy from books about stalkers and the third world war. We imagined how a reader of such literature would survive after a real nuclear strike.

First day

The threat of nuclear war was a tempting prospect for me. "Battles with marauders", "survival in radioactive forests", "collisions with mutants" - it sounded even cooler than "zombie apocalypse". I surfed the Web, found out that if something happened, Washington would start bombing cities at six o'clock in the evening, and read what products to take. I went to the dacha and took grandfather's cartridges - in the event of an apocalypse, they will become the most valuable resource. In addition, I bought a gun through an anonymous browser. In addition, I bought a used car so that I could drive into the forest after the explosion.

Valuable Tips:

• The need to take weapons and ammunition with you is one of the most common myths about a nuclear apocalypse. Marauders and even more so mutants are nothing more than a figment of the imagination of writers. If you take weapons and ammunition with you, then you will have to part with them at the first checkpoint.
• Instead of stuffing your backpack with pasta, pack as much medicine as you can. You will need antibiotics, insulin, and a variety of wound care products. Please note: you will not get really effective anti-radiation agents in advance. Drinking iodine, as most guides advise, is also not worth it, except for complacency.

Second day

A huge nuclear mushroom appeared on the horizon. I admired it from the window of my house, then quickly grabbed my backpack and went down to the garage. I turned on the car and drove into the forests - to survive.

Valuable Tips:

• You hardly need transportation. And in the forest you will definitely not hide from the explosion (and subsequent radioactive fallout). If after the explosion you find yourself far from the affected area, then the car, of course, will help. However, a pre-prepared car in the garage of your home is not the most useful thing. In the first hours after the explosion, it is better to sit at home. If the glasses survived, then just hang out a signal for help and wait. You need to wait somewhere for three days - during this time the radioactive background will significantly decrease.
• The walls of the house are good at weakening radiation pollution. Prepare the most closed clothing and try to assess the situation. Don't panic. Turn on the TV and try to understand what happened - an explosion at a nuclear power plant, a terrorist attack, or the third world war began. After that, wait for the rescuers or the military. Only they really know what to do. Memos that have been roaming the Web for decades and guides from stalker forums are best not to believe. Only the military has real manuals, and they are unsuitable for civilians.
• It is better not to stare at the "mushroom" - you can earn a retinal burn.
• Don't really count on mobile communications - if the third world war starts, then most likely there will be no access to it.

Valuable Tips:

• Not all metro stations are suitable. You want deep stations that have sliding doors and good ventilation. Among the deep stations, one can note "Admiralteiskaya" in St. Petersburg and the station "Park Pobedy" in Moscow. The subway can indeed be more useful than the bomb shelter, as it is regularly inspected. But it is also not recommended to sit in the subway for a long time. When the background subsides, try to leave the affected area. At the same time, it is better to move underground - reduce your stay on the surface to a minimum.
• Once again: no need to go anywhere or run away. Try to figure out which blast zone you are in.

Valuable Tips:

• Don't expect your life in a bomb shelter to be filled with drama. Kitchen, toilet, bedroom - that's your itinerary for the next couple of weeks.
• The main entertainment is, of course, information from the outside. Bomb shelters are equipped (if you're lucky) with points of contact.
• Despite the nervous situation, it is better not to run around the bomb shelter so as not to increase the production of carbon dioxide.

Day ten

We went up to the surface for the first time. Now the adventures should definitely begin: searching for food, hunting, fighting marauders.

• If you still have to look for food, then do it as far as possible from the affected area. We are talking about 100 kilometers from the epicenter of a nuclear explosion. Forget about hunting cats and dogs - the simpler the food, the less nuclides it contains. Therefore, it is better to do with plant foods. But in general, of course, it is wiser not to get food, but to eat exclusively canned food.
• Better to stay with the military as long as possible. The military will collect buses for emergency evacuation of people. After being transferred to the campground, you will need to change clothes and undergo decontamination. If the dose of radiation received is too high, you will be sent to the hospital. In addition, you need to get anti-radiation products.
• In the event of the start of a third world war, they will come for you from the military registration and enlistment office. The rest will wait for the transfer to the rear.
• In the event of a single explosion, you will be transferred to children's camps and rest homes for temporary accommodation.