# Would any use of nuclear weapons nowadays, mean "the end of all things"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 9, 2017, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172 "2017-08-09T13:31:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BuckChongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@BuckChongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckChongo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/21 "2017-08-10T00:45:42Z")
Saw a short piece on the TV about Las Vegas and nuclear tourism in Nevada back when above ground testing was going on. Couple great shots of people watching the mushroom clouds from shots going off 60 miles away. I think we are insane and there is a pent up demand for a bit of nuclear combat that people could post to ‘social’ media. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/22 "2017-08-10T04:53:11Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > His response was that the devices concerned in those happenings, were the equivalent of penny firecrackers compared to even the least of the contents of today’s nuclear arsenals. Seemingly he is not, after all, Mr. Omniscient. It’s the other way around. Modern delivery methods are much more precise, so there’s no need for the multiple-megaton bombs of the 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/23 "2017-08-10T22:13:40Z")
Yeah, my understanding is that it isn’t the nuclear bombs that’ll cause nuclear winter, but the soot and ash thrown up from the burning cities, along with the nuclear bombs. We’ll survive as a species, I’m sure. But it’s going to suck for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/24 "2017-08-10T22:36:54Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > It’s the other way around. Modern delivery methods are much more precise, so there’s no need for the multiple-megaton bombs of the 1950s. Do North Korea’s delivery methods count as “modern” and “precise” or more like the 1950s-era stuff? ---
**Author:** ![EMB55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@EMB55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EMB55)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/25 "2017-08-13T00:46:58Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > John Wayne was a SIX-pack-a-day smoker, survived lung cancer, and eventually died of stomach cancer, which it’s very possible metastasized from the lung cancer. I think a nuke was the least of the causes, if at all. Articles have been written about the supposed aftereffects of radiation on the crew of the film THE CONQUEROR, of which Wayne and one of his sons participated. For younger cast members, the possibility that such exposure caused their cancer is far more likely than that of the older ones. Why? Because, among that crew, there were many heavy smokers and drinkers, cigarettes and alcohol being two known carcinogens. Even so, having this discussion is very depressing. Back in the days of DR. STRANGELOVE and FAIL-SAFE, you had two films about the same topic–one darkly funny, one totally straight and without humor. What both had in common was giving the viewer a little sense of the horror an all out–or even limited–nuclear exchange risked. As it is, humans are self-destructive enough as it is without even talking about nukes. Besides, no nuke, however ‘modest’ has to hit its target directly to cause death, panic and chaos. Personally, I’d rather die peacefully while asleep. With a jukebox playing my favorite music, of course. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/26 "2017-08-13T01:00:19Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Yeah, my understanding is that it isn’t the nuclear bombs that’ll cause nuclear winter, but the soot and ash thrown up from the burning cities, along with the nuclear bombs. > > We’ll survive as a species, I’m sure. But it’s going to suck for a bit. Yeah if there is a massive exchange. But of NK throws one or two nukes? It will really suck for where they hit- and for North Korea. But it will be not so bad for everywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/27 "2017-08-13T07:19:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And [John Wayne dying from a nuke](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/374/did-john-wayne-die-of-cancer-caused-by-a-radioactive-movie-set) isn’t really theoretical: The movie set was definitely hit by a lot of fallout, and the cast and crew definitely got cancer at much greater rates than normal. It’s possible that Wayne’s cancer was caused by something else, but the nuke is the way to bet. “The Conqueror” and atomic fallout has been long debunked. The origin of it was a speculative article with absolutely no actual research behind it and the major cast and crew of the film died at cancer rates roughly equal to cancer rates of the times among the normal population. > **[More Hollywood Myths](https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4238)** > > Was John Wayne's cancer death caused by filming downwind of the Nevada Test Site? ...and other Hollywood rumors. ---
**Author:** ![EMB55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@EMB55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EMB55)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/28 "2017-08-14T15:24:57Z")
Goes without saying that the further away from nuclear weapons, the better off we all are. It’s a tribute to the president’s congenital bellicose blubbering that we’re even talking much about them at all. North Korea can be held in check by many methods, there’s no need to provoke them into popping one off just for the hell of it. As for anything surviving, well…that depends on the degree and intensity of conflagration, of course. Even in a worst case scenario some kind of life survives, even if it’s only insects of deep sea creatures so deep that they miss the fallout. But this scenario is so inherently needless and insane only an unhinged bully like Trump would have dared suggested such courses of action in public. Some very important people in Washington have to ask themselves how long such a dangerous windbag can be tolerated–for all our sakes. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/29 "2017-08-14T15:38:44Z")
I don’t believe NK has enough nukes, and their delivery systems are not reliable enough, to bring about the M part of MAD. Obviously being hit by even one nuke is horrific, but not the end of the world. If NK nukes Tokyo, the world economy is going to take a major hit. Likewise if it’s LA or Chicago or New York. It _would_ be the end of the world for North Korea. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/30 "2017-08-14T15:56:34Z")
> [@EMB55](#): > > It’s a tribute to the president’s congenital bellicose blubbering that we’re even talking much about them at all. Actually no, it’s due to Kim’s congenital bellicose blubbering. > [@](#): > > North Korea can be held in check by many methods, Really? All methods tried so far have failed. > [@](#): > > As for anything surviving, well…that depends on the degree and intensity of conflagration, of course. If NK gets nuked the world will say, “Wow, nukes are indeed terrible and potent weapons.” and shrug its collective shoulders and move on. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/31 "2017-08-15T11:49:38Z")
A limited nuclear exchange would be damaging in the extreme, but quite survivable for the vast majority of Earth’s population. Now an exchange of thousands of weapons between say, the US and Russia, that’s a different matter. Most of what I’ve read on the subject in the 80s estimated about 100 million deaths in the US and another 100 million in Russia, plus perhaps 100-200 million more people in Europe and Asia, which is still a minority of the world’s population. But then didn’t Carl Sagan and a group of scientists say that there was a chance of human extinction due to global cooling and soil being unsuitable for raising crops? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/32 "2017-08-15T12:45:32Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > A limited nuclear exchange would be damaging in the extreme, Only to a very limited area. > [@](#): > > Now an exchange of thousands of weapons between say, the US and Russia, that’s a different matter. Most of what I’ve read on the subject in the 80s estimated about 100 million deaths in the US and another 100 million in Russia, plus perhaps 100-200 million more people in Europe and Asia, which is still a minority of the world’s population. Call it a round billion and it’s still insignificant. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172/33 "2017-08-15T12:46:59Z")
> [@EMB55](#): > > It’s a tribute to the president’s congenital bellicose blubbering Well, it seems that it has caused Comrade Kim to [blink](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40931775). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-any-use-of-nuclear-weapons-nowadays-mean-the-end-of-all-things/793172.md?page=1)