Nuclear War Myths

My infatuation with nuclear war began long before my twelfth grade English class when we read the novel, Alas Babylon. I remember thinking that it was pretty spot on with information I had learned.

Then again, I had the advantage of growing up in a time when the threat of nuclear war was high.

When I was a child, even at ten years old, I set up my own shelter in the basement of my home, complete with food I stole from the kitchen.

Even though I was a Reagan era kid, I still was not the norm when it came to obsession and education about surviving a potential nuclear war. People in the fifties learned because they were made to learn it, it was part of their everyday lives. As time moved on, people fell into the ignorance is bliss category.

While I am not wanting this to be a strict survival blog, for the time being, it seems to be a focus.

With the recent Hawaii alert scare, scanning social media posts showed me a lot of people have some misconceptions.  So I thought I would do a blog about some myths I have read on Facebook.

I’m going to try to avoid being overly scientific, simply because that can get boring.

Let’s start

Myth 1  - I will have to stay underground for years

Not true. Radiation decreases with time. There is the 7:10 Rule and you remember it, it could save your life. There is an exact science to it, for every seven fold increase in time, there is a ten fold decrease. But I have found an easy reliable formula is every seven hours radiation levels will drop 7 x 10% of the reading. EX: 1000 Rads of radiation, seven ours later will be 300. Or even easier 14 hours later radiation levels are 1/10 of what they were. That is why staying underground, not exposed the first 24 hours are crucial.

The human body can endure up to 100 Rads of radiation per hour before getting sick. 350 can be fatal. The body will process and get rid of it, unless you have Prussia Blue you will have to rely on your thyroid and time to expel it. There is no radiation reset.

So how will you know when it’s safe, especially if you don’t have a dosimeter … play it safe. Assume it’s high for at least 3-5 days. That does mean go frolicking in the apocalypse, it means play it safe. Keep exposure to a minimum.

MYTH 2 – Nowhere is safe.

Radiation carries west to east with the winds. This handy map from the cold war, shows you how radiation will flow.

Also, this SUPER COOL tool, will give you a look at how a nuclear explosion will impact your city. Play with it. Test it out. NUKE IT MAP

MYTH 3 – We will get hit with thousands of bombs if nuclear war starts

Okay, if it was 1983 then I’d say yes. There were 70k nuclear weapons then. But now there are 15k worldwide. The US and Russia make up for 13k of them. Of Russians 6600 nuclear weapons, 1500 are ICBMs ready and Deployable. Over half of the 6600 are stockpiled. Meaning they aren’t ready. Should they release their bay and the US release theirs. They won’t have resources left to prepare the remaining bombs. The US would intercept 40% of all missiles.

Let’s be real. If there is a nuclear exchange it will be limited, because it won’t take any more than a few nukes to bring society to a halt.

MYTH 4 – If a nuke goes off we’re screwed, the EMP will destroy everything.

A perfectly placed high altitude nuclear explosion could indeed shut down all electronics THAT are running, plugged in or have a receptor source like an antenna. But a ground burst would only cause a localized EMP. The higher the explosion the further the electronic damage.

Business Insider did a nice article about it this summer. You can read it HERE.

MYTH 5 – The pope says we’re on the brink of nuclear war

For as long as I can remember, there has only been a few times that we weren’t on the brink. The pope is trying to be a peacemaker, perhaps if he says it, the leaders that are pissing around might think he has some sort of divine information. Truth is, we will never know, when we are truly on the brink. We just have to be ready and prepared.

There are so many more, but it would have made for a really long blog. Check out tomorrow, when I blog, ‘The Poor Man’s Tips for Survival’

If you have anything or topic you want me to discuss, please feel free to let me know.

Hawaii Missile Alert - Conspiracy Theories

So if you are like my daughter, and you haven’t heard, apparently an alert went out in residents in Hawaii via their phones that a ballistic missile was on its way, take cover, not a drill. Not long after, there was a huge … Whoops, our bad, we didn’t mean it.

Really? Come on. While I believe, more than likely it was an accident, (Clears throat - there are two people that have to activate that system) I have a couple theories about it. Please don’t pick on me or tell me to remove my tin foil hat. It’s the writer in me theorizing.

Before I get to them, I want to note that since that happened, I have been seeing posts pop up on social media. Everyone is suddenly talking about my favorite subject … nuclear war. Not that I want it to happen, I just happened to absorb all information about it. Always have. Thirty years of research. Heck, I remember the days when the world’s arsenal was 70k nuclear warheads compared to roughly 15K now. I read, went to seminars, etc. … As some of my readers know, I have fictional novels about it.

What I am also seeing it a lot of crazy talk. Things being tossed out there that aren’t scientifically based. Since Trump became president everyone talks about it, but no one knows about it. Why? It was a thing of the past.  And the only information that people tend to get is what they see on drastically over done movies. It’s insane, tomorrow I will post a blog on Nuclear War Myths. Is there such a thing … yes. But onward now to my crazy theories about that alert.

THEORY ONE – HIT ME BABY

The CDC did it. Nothing screams success and press like getting lots of website hits. Some of you may or may not know but on January 16^th, the CDC plans to hold a briefing on surviving nuclear war. Suddenly they feel the need to do this. The public needs educated, um, yeah, I agree. That alone is scary. What on earth does nuclear war have to do with the CDC? Still, they are holding their briefing. What better way to draw attention, to get ‘hits’ than to have a little nuclear war scare and people searching YouTube for ‘Duck and Cover’.

THEORY TWO – THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF

North Korea did it. The hacked us before they can hack us again. What if it is all an elaborate  scheme and part of their grand war plan. Don’t kid yourself, Hawaii is in range of their nuclear weapons.  They can only cause the most damage if they pull a Pearl Harbor. The element of a North Korea surprise is slim, but if they played on our ignorance, they stand a chance. Hack the system, send out a warning or two, people won’t panic as much the next time, after that they’ll ignore it. What better what to cover an attack, than to have people not believe you when it actually happens.

THREE – THIS IS MAJOR TOM

It really happened.

Why is that message even in the automated emergency alert message system? It’s not. It was written.

Image for a moment you are a worker in the IT department of information. (Disclosure – I’m guessing that’s what it’s called) You’re sitting there, enjoying your cinnamon bun, when all of the sudden you are told, prepare a warning, a submarine located 300 miles West of Hawaii accidentally launched an SLBM (Submarine launched Ballistic missile) in fifteen minutes it will land. You know all stops are out to halt it, but as the minutes tick down and ground zero is close, your supervisor says, ‘heck with it, send the warning’ – just in case. The bomb was intercepted, all is fine …but then … the text was sent. How do you cover … um accident.
+++EDIT - Just to be clear, I am not saying this was NK, I am saying it may have been an accident from out own or someone else.

Those are my theories.

Little note to segue into tomorrow’s blog. It won’t take 1,000 warheads to begin the downfall of civilization. All it will take is one. If this country took a nosedive financially after September 11, imagine what one nuclear warhead detonated on American Soil would do to the economy. Economy halts, infrastructure crumbles …

More tomorrow … hope you check back.