Have we looked at the effect a major nuclear attack would have on the world besides normal fallout? Massive firestorms laying waste to valuable farmland, contaminated water sources, chemical spills from ruptured and destroyed plants...
I think the effects of the bombs are being understated...
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/nukergv.html
Quote:
At 11:59 the Valley had a population of 797,000 and Brownsville contained 135,000 people. At 2:00 PM the Valley's population is 449,000 (including 104,000 injured seriously enough to require hospitalization under normal conditions), and only 1,700 people from Brownsville survive. A total of 568,000 have been killed and 310,000 injured in Texas and Mexico.
As far as 290 km (180 miles) downwind of these explosions--including Harlingen--exposed persons develop radiation sickness and 50% die within 2 months--assuming they are uninjured. Nearly all persons with severe injuries who receive this dose will die within a month. In the Brownsville area most survivors develop radiation sickness by 6:30 the night after the attack. Most pregnant women miscarry their babies, and after two months the radiation sickness has killed 30% of those uninjured and 50% of those injured. In Matamoros and South Padre Island, about half those exposed develop radiation sickness to some degree, brain damage is produced in 20% of unborn babies, the immune system is impaired, and some deaths occur.
By five years post-attack, the Rio Grande Valley is almost recognizable. Pre-attack radiation standards would declare the rest of the Valley safe--although the devastated Brownsville, McAllen, and Raymondville areas remain unrebuilt. Cancer and genetic defects are now emerging in Valley survivors, and will continue to emerge throughout one and several generations, respectively. These will not pose major threats compared to other problems (because any amount of radiation sufficient to produce these effects to a truly significant degree would destroy the exposed population outright)--in fact, fear of these effects could be worse than the effects themselves. Genetic disorders will be noticeable in no more than 5% of the babies born in the area over the next few generations, and many of these defects will not be especially harmful. Induced cancer cases will be similar in quantity to levels produced by cigarette smoking in the population.
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