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What Would Happen If All Nuclear Weapons Were Launched at Once? · The Infographics Show Podcast

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Have you ever just stopped and thought about what would
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: happen if every single nuclear weapon on the planet went
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: off at the same time.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: It's a pretty dark thought, right, but it's one that's
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: worth exploring.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: I think it really is. It's like something out of
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: a movie, but it makes you wonder what the actual
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: impact would be.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Well, that's what we're here to dive into today.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Exactly. We're going beyond the infographics and really trying to
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: grasp the scale of this hypothetical scenario. So we're talking
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: about roughly nineteen thousand nuclear warheads worldwide.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and the vast majority of those are controlled by
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: just two.
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  Speaker 1: Countries, Russia and the United States.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Exactly. They hold about ninety five percent of the global
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: nuclear arsenal. And then you have countries like the UK
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: with a much smaller stockpile, around.
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  Speaker 1: Two hundred warheads for the UK.
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  Speaker 2: Right, that's right, But even one of those is capable
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: of unimaginable destruction.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: And it's important to note that not all nuclear weapons
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  Speaker 1: are created equal. Oh.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, you have these massive thermonuclear weapons with yields and
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  Speaker 2: the megatons. Those are the ones that could wipe out
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  Speaker 2: entire cities.
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  Speaker 1: And then you have smaller warheads like the ones tested
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  Speaker 1: by Indian Pakistan.
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  Speaker 2: Right, still incredibly destructive, but on a different scale.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: So let's start with the most basic question. If all
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: these nukes were detonated, would it actually destroy the planet.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Well, it's a terrifying thought, but from a purely scientific perspective, no, really, Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: the Earth is a lot tougher than we give it
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: credit for. Even if all nineteen thousand warheads were detonated simultaneously,
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: the combined energy wouldn't be enough to shatter the planet.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Wow, so the Earth would survive. It would, But what
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: about the areas where the bombs actually went off?
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Oh, the immediate devastation would be catastrophic. Let's just take
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: one hypothetical one megaton warhead as an example. Okay, the
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: blast from that would create a crater about ten klom
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: across kilometers, Yeah, and about two kilometers deep.
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  Speaker 1: That's huge, it is.
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  Speaker 2: And now imagine thousands of those craters scattered across the globe.
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  Speaker 1: It's almost impossible a picture, it really is.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: But the immediate blast zones are just the beginning of
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: the problem, right, because then you have the fallout exactly.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: We're talking about an unbelievable amount of dust, soot, and
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: debris being blasted into the atmosphere.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Breaking all the way up into the stratosphere.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Yes, and that's where we start to see the global
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: consequences of this scenario. This massive cloud of particles would
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: essentially block out the Sun.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Leading to what's often called a nuclear winter.
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  Speaker 2: Right. The Earth's surface temperature would plummet and stay that
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: way for years, maybe even.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Decades, and that would have a devastating impact on agriculture.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, crops would fail, leading to a widespread famine.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Not to mention the ecological damage.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: Entire ecosystems would collapse. It would be a complete disruption
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  Speaker 2: of the Earth's climate system.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: So we're talking about a global catastrophe. But there's another
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: threat we haven't even touched on yet, the electromagnetic pulse
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: the EMP.
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  Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, that's another major concern with nuclear detonations, particularly
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: at high altitudes.
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  Speaker 1: Can you explain what an EMP is and what kind
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: of damage it would cause?
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  Speaker 2: Sure, when a nuclear weapon detonates, it releases a powerful
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: burst of electromagnetic energy. This energy can travel for hundreds
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: even thousands of miles, and when it comes into contact
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: with electronic systems, it can induce huge electrical.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: Currents, essentially frying those systems exactly.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: So you're talking about widespread power outages.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: But it's not just power grids, is it.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: No, it's anything with a microchip, computers, communication networks, cars,
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  Speaker 2: even so basically.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: All modern technology would be.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Crippled pretty much, and that would have a huge impact
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: on everything from transportation to healthcare. We'd be thrown back
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: into a pre electronic age overnight.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: And all of this would be happening on top of
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: the nuclear winter in the widespread devastation from the blast themself.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: It's a pretty bleak picture, doesn't it.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: It does, But it's important to understand the full scope
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  Speaker 2: of the potential consequences. We can't just focus on the
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: initial explosions.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's the cascading effects that are truly terrifying.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: Exactly. The atmospheric changes, the climate collapse, the technological breakdown.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: All of these things would interact and amplify each other,
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  Speaker 2: leading to a global catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.
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  Speaker 1: So to sum it up, even though the Earth itself
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: would survive a full scale nuclear war, the consequences would
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: be absolutely devastating.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, we'd be looking at widespread destruction, a global nuclear winter,
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  Speaker 2: and a complete collapse of our technological infrastructure. It's a
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: scenario we should do everything in our power to avoid.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: I completely agree it's a sobering thought, but it really
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  Speaker 1: highlights the fragility of our world and the interconnectedness of
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: all these systems we rely on.
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  Speaker 2: It really does. It makes you appreciate just how vulnerable
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: we are.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: And on that note, I think we'll wrap up this
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: deep dive. Sounds good, but before we go, I want
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: to remind everyone that we're beyond infographics and we really
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: appreciate your support. If you found this deep Dot thought provoking,
• 5:08
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• 5:10
  Speaker 2: It helps us reach more people and continue to explore
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: these important, even sometimes unsettling topics.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening everyone. Until next time, keep those big
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: questions coming, and remember to look beyond the infographics.