I fear that nuclear war could be happening soon…
Global tensions seem to be rising, and superpowers are allowed to be more and more reckless. It feels like the third world war is imminent, a nuclear war which would end everything.
I am so scared… I am so paralyzed to do anything now. Am I overreacting? Also, what should I be doing?
Well, I had the realisation that the human race is a cancer to the planet, nukes might just be the chemotherapy the planet needs to survive. I was getting really distraught about the environmental crisis and concluded that nuking everything might be a way out. It gave me an odd sense of peace
The closer you are to the blast, the better. This ensures a quick and painless death. If your’e really frightened of nuclear weapons, rest easy in a flat in a major city. You won’t have to suffer any of the scary mutations or side effects of rural folk.
A lot of other people have posted some really good stuff in terms of coping, and I think most of them are completely correct; it’s not something you can control, so it’s out of your hands and not really worth worrying about. That said, knowing that has never helped me stop worrying about something before, so I figured I’d type this up in case it helps. 🙂
Nuclear weapons have been a particular interest of mine for years. I’ve read most of the books out there on them, and I’m very familiar with the strategy involved in how they would be deployed in a conflict. I’ve also been to Trinity Site at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico twice, where the first nuclear weapon was tested, so I’ve seen their impact in person (I also have plans to visit Japan, and also the testing sites in Nevada, but haven’t been able to make those work out yet).
If a nuclear war happens, it won’t be the end of everything. They are big, scary, and should an actual full-scale exchange take place hundreds of millions (perhaps even billions) of people will die. It would be an absolutely cataclysmic event.
But that wouldn’t end everything.
A lot of people talk about how we have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world, which is hyperbolic. The Earth has seen much worse than a nuclear exchange, and it’ll be fine. Overall life will also be fine; plenty of plants and animals would get wiped out, because it would be a mass extinction event, but a huge amount of life would survive and be just fine.
What people mean is that human life would be destroyed, and yeah, fair enough, we’d definitely have a major regression in civilization. But it wouldn’t kill everyone (probably nowhere even close to everyone), and humanity would continue to exist. The impacts of the dust kicked up by the bombs would probably cause some global cooling temporarily, similarly to a couple huge volcanic eruptions at the same time would, and life would become pretty difficult, but it won’t wipe us out.
If you live in a major city in the United States, Europe, Russia, or China, none of this really matters to you. If a nuclear war happens, you might get 10-15 minutes notice, but probably the first you’ll know about it is when an intensely bright flash happens. If you’re close enough, you won’t even have a chance to understand what it is. If you’re a bit further away, you might survive the initial flash of radiation, but be killed by the blast wave, or by burns caused either by the intense amount of heat released or by the radiation itself. The exact radius for this is going to vary based on exactly what type of warheads are detonated in your area, but we’ll say if you’re within a couple miles you’ll likely be killed within a few days because of that.
If you’re outside that second zone, you’re going to probably be okay, at least for a while. You might have some burns you can recover from, your lifetime risk of cancer might be a lot higher depending on where you were, and you may have other injuries related to the bombing, but you’ll probably survive long enough to help with recovery. Congrats!
You asked what you can do to prepare. Well, honestly, not a lot. I’d recommend preparing the same way you should for basically any other large-scale disaster. Ignoring radiation (I’ll get to it in a minute), a nuclear bomb’s aftermath is going to be similar to an earthquake or large fire. Keep a few days or a week of bottled water on hand for each person in your household (and maybe a way to purify water longer-term), have food supplies, some basic medical gear, and emergency lighting/communications equipment. If you’re really concerned about nuclear war specifically, add in some iodine tablets for each member of the household. If you do this, you’ll be prepped not just for nuclear war, but also any of the other much more likely disasters that may occur in your lifetime.
Now, as for the radiation question. Most nuclear weapons are not made to spread large amounts of radiation around. They absolutely will release radiation, but it makes the reaction less efficient, reduces yield, and massively increases cost per bomb. I’m not saying here that it’s not something to worry about or be aware of, but it’s a smaller problem than Hollywood and mass media would have you believe it is. Avoid eating or drinking things that are from directly downwind of an explosion, and try to not let any ash or particles stay on you/breath them in, and you’ve done what you can. Most of radiation exposure management comes down to keeping particles out of your body, particularly the lungs. The longer you’re exposed to radiation, the more likely it is that it’ll do something bad to you. The best remedy is to keep it out of your body as much as you can, and put distance between it and you so the inverse-square law can help.
I hope this helps a bit. Overall, even with global tensions rising, I think the chance of nuclear war is very very low. We’ve been very very close to at least a limited exchange before, and pulled through, and despite everything going on I think the chances of an actual nuclear exchange remains incredibly slim. If you want to prepare, pretend it’s like another large-scale (and much likelier) disaster, and prep for that.
I’ve skipped over some things that weren’t really pertinent, like actual nuclear war theory, and simplified other things, so if you want me to expand on any of this let me know! Nuclear history has been one of my special interests for years and years, and I enjoy talking about it.
I’ll also add about the radiation thing - the vast majority of the radiation from a nuclear explosion will be gone in just a few days. Even if you’re close enough to be affected, staying indoors (turn off air conditioning/heating though) and on the lowest floor possible of the building you’re in will protect you from most of the actual radiation. Again, the big issue is breathing it so sealing windows if you’re able could also help.
Media definitely overestimates the area of effect and timeline of destruction. Make sure you get a crank radio (they usually also double as flashlights and can charge your phone) and info will flow about response, even if it flows slowly and clunky at first. The good news is this applies to other disasters that are far far more likely to affect you, like severe winter weather, hurricanes, or wildfires.
Play fallout
Get involved and build resilience in your local community. It’s super beneficial for your mental health, social health and you can do something tangible that does make a difference. This resilience will help build and maintain and more importantly sustain the structural and social support for things like general strikes. People need to eat.
https://web.archive.org/web/20240105073255/https://effectiveactivist.com/zine/
It is only in the oppressor’s benefit to do otherwise. Remember these are the same people causing both issues.
More in the same vein:
Their linked guide is a great summary. The archive.org link above is partially a workbook to help people figure out where to start with these things… There are so many options!! [email protected] too, is a form of praxis.
Great advice
We all need each other. ❤️
I agree that things are looking bleak, but im still hopeful for the future.
Nuclear war is a possibility, but very unlikely.
I think basic preparedness in these troubled times is just sensible. Not “prepper” stuff, but enough water and caned foods for 3 days or something.
Other than that just build local, off-line relationships.
Am I overreacting?
No.
Could you please elaborate your fears? Like are you scared of dying in a nuclear blast, having the planet and consequently humanity devastated by the nuclear winter, changes that precede the nuclear war, or are you afraid of living in the post nuclear war, dealing with the consequences of it?
having the planet and consequently humanity devastated
We don’t need nuclear war for that, we’re already well on our way there just by continuing to use fossil fuels and raping the earth and demonizing any kind of environmental / climate protections. Conventional war is a huge contributor to emissions, and political instability also doesn’t need nuclear war to affect you negatively.
Does that help? On one hand, everything is going to shit already even without nukes flying. On the other hand maybe it helps if the things you fear are not that one huge spectre of nuclear hellfire that seems impossible to prevent for an individual, but many smaller things where normal people can make a difference through their actions.
It’s good to stay informed but try not to let it impact your day to day mental health. Consider that we’ve been under threat of mass nuclear war for about 80+ years now and haven’t been in a full scale one yet.
There’s little that you’re able to actually influence so as ignorant as it may sound, try to avoid worrying about it. If it happens, it happens, you won’t feel better for having worried about it and there isn’t much you could plan for anyway.
Focus on the things and people that matter to you and take each day as it comes on the basis that nuclear war is not happening.
Read some history.
There was much more saber rattling going on in the Cold War than there is now.
The 0.01% aren’t going to risk their life style to prove a point.
This article may help: https://positivepsychology.com/circles-of-influence/
And a graphic that sums it up:
I’m just another internet rando, but looking at the same events everyone else is, I do think the masses will turn this around through solidarity. I believe: It will be before any nukes are used. It will be after long lasting climate change. But it will prevent the downfall of humanity. There will be human and natural healing. Most people will be okay.
What do I have power over to make this happen? Mostly numerous, small, interpersonal interactions.
Well said. Focus on what you can influence and realize most things are outside of your control.
The only thing you can do is move away from a major city. and after that you can’t do shit. So don’t worry about it. it’s fine
check out that movie Dead Man’s letters. it’s really good.
I suggest playing around with this.
https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/
it’s a nuclear weapons detonation simulator.You need to understand that it’s profitable for the media to overly dramatize what nukes can do. Modern media profits from fear. In reality the destruction is very localized. Think of an area you are knowledgeable. Does the media portray anything you do correctly? As long as you are not in major target city or military base you will be fine. I had a 20 minute commute to the base I worked on. Turns out my house was outside the blast radius if the base was nuked. It wouldn’t even break the windows.
FYI: I use to work for the army, I was on the peripheral of their prep for nuclear war. When you actually dig into the effects, it just a big boom. Meanwhile you have trucks and rail cars full of toxic material and poisonous gas driving through your town every day and for the most part nothing ever happens.
As long as you are not in major target city … you will be fine.
That seems pretty complacent tbh.
First of all even just the top 30 cities in the US are home to about 41 million people. Which seems a lot of folk to simply write off.
Also, the destruction of the major cities would cause huge/complete economic, social, infrastructural and legal collapse for the rest of the country.
Plus, even for those outside the immediate blast radius, there’d be the massive environmental impact of pollution to land and water, not least the potential for a nuclear winter killing off crops, and then animals.
Turns out my house was outside the blast radius if the base was nuked.
Without knowing the size of the bomb, how could you know you would be outside it? Not that blast radius is all that matters anyway.
Am I overreacting
Yes.
Totally understandable in the world with the dopamine fueled news cycles running on fear.
But, nuclear war is very unlikely, that’s why Putin is threatening it every other week, he knows he won’t do it, and other leaders know that too. It’s meant to terrorise people.
Help Ukraine to grind down russia so that eventually we can denuclearise them (remove the Kremlin and let the russians have another try at democracy would be nice too) is IMO the closest any regular person can do today.
If this is in response to the capture of Maduro specifically, then yes, you are overreacting. Trump seems to only be interested in being a bully picking on those weaker than him, which excludes nuclear powers.
