Geologically speaking, if a nuke war kills us instantly or if it takes 500 years (major wipeout following by dwindling survivors), then it could still be considered the same extinction event.
Given that just about everyone has forgotten the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, surviving bands of people may have a hard time rebuilding. Even if we survive the initial fall-out, our long-term prospects may be thin.
But maybe we would like the Road Warrior lifestyle.
Remember the scenes at the end where JOSHUA “launched” his nukes and the various Tv monitors in Norad showed all of the possible “First Strike scenarios?”
The nuclear explosions covered about 95% of the land area (outside of Antarctica) in the world. The land that remained was manily desert and unsuitable for farming.
The ones that would be best off and have the best chance at survival would be those in submarines.
