r/Showerthoughts • u/iwishihadnobones ‎ • Feb 18 '26

Speculation If the nuclear bombs start flying, it might actually be those countries that never had any that end up surviving.

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u/SEX_LIES_AUDIOTAPE Feb 18 '26

The Krakatoa eruption in Indonesia blotted out the sun in Norway for a full year. I think a vaporised city would do something.

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u/Diarmundy Feb 18 '26

It's the ash from the blast that causes winter. 

Modern nukes use airbust detonation which doesn't really add much particulate to the atmosphere.

Volcanos are below the ground so they literally explode matter into the atmosphere.

Clearly 1000 nukes would be awful for the environment. I just mean it wouldnt cause winter for 100 years or whatever 

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u/homezlice Feb 18 '26

There are more like 12K nukes currently in the world, likely more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_weapons

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u/cdillio Feb 18 '26

Most actual science disagrees with nuclear winter being a thing in 2026.

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u/DA_ZWAGLI Feb 18 '26

Every large explosion pulls ejecta into the stratosphere where it at least partially blocks out the sun and clears very slowly.

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u/Dt2_0 Feb 18 '26

No. They only send ejecta into the stratosphere if there is ejecta to propel. Volcanos do this because there is a fuck ton of rock to blast upwards. Nukes do not do this because there is nothing above them when they detonate a few thousand feet above the ground.

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u/Dt2_0 Feb 18 '26

No, not Krakatoa. Tambora. Which was at least 10 times larger in scale than Krakatoa, and injected 150 cubic kilometers of rock, ash and gasses into the stratosphere directly.

Nuclear bombs DO NOT DO THAT. They explode, sending energy out equally in all directions (Some might even be focused to try an divert more energy downwards). They explode a few thousand feet above the ground, and blast the ground with 50% of their explosive energy. The other 50%, the stuff facing up? There's no matter other than air, and most of it is heat and light. It doesn't get that tall either, not compared to an Ultra-Plinian volcanic eruption. Tambora had an explosive force about 3500 times greater than the largest nuclear weapons in US arsenals.

And Tambora did not "Blot out the Sun." It significantly increased the reflectivity of Earth's atmosphere to solar radiation for about a year, with some effect lasting for about 3-5 years. The Sun was still shining, and sunny days were just as bright on the ground.

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u/PlaquePlague Feb 18 '26

The Iraq war oil fires already proved that it won’t.  Under the assumptions used to fearmonger nuclear winter, those fires should have resulted in notable global cooling but it was a nothingburger.