Concern has grown worldwide about where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead. It’s a moment that can feel similar to growing up during the Cold War, when there was talk of nuclear winter, radiation and the atomic bomb. Today, the world’s nuclear arsenal sits at over 13,000 warheads and, unlike in the past, there is greater access to accurate images, video and information–but loads of disinformation, too.
The shockwave and heat that the detonation of a single nuclear weapon creates could end the lives of millions of people immediately but there are even larger impacts that would follow a nuclear war. Radioactive dust from the detonating bombs would rise up into the atmosphere and spread out over large areas of the world. The resulting nuclear winter would cause deadly levels of radiation. A worldwide famine would follow, which is now believed to be the most serious consequence of nuclear war.
