Whenever I hear the words “Nuclear weapons”, the tragic incidents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki come to my mind. The sheer fact that hundreds of thousands of people were killed with two nuclear bombs scares me to no ends. I often wonder what if nuclear bombs were used in today’s world. Nuclear weapons today are much more powerful than the nuclear weapons used by the USA during the second world war. For example- The Hiroshima nuclear bomb, “Little Boy”, is estimated to have been between 12 and 18 kilotonnes of TNT (50 and 75 TJ) while the Nagasaki Bomb  “Fat Man”, is estimated to be between 18 and 23 kilotonnes of TNT (75 and 96 TJ).These two bombs were enough to kill around 100,000-250,000 people. Now if we compare these nuclear weapons to the strongest nuclear weapon there is i.e The Tsar Bomba, Tsar Bomba is 1500 times more powerful than both the Nagasaki and the Hiroshima bomb combined. Imagine the amount of destruction this bomb could cause alone!

Coming to the topic, nuclear weapons today seem to be one of the greatest threats to mankind. It is expected that if there is a full-blown nuclear war, it is predicted that humanity will almost be completed washed away from the earth. This is because nuclear weapons not only lead to immediate deaths due to the intense heat produced during the explosions and the pressure created from the blast but the radiations of these weapons will also have long term effects. Scientists predict that a nuclear war would lead to what is called a nuclear winter. The radioactive particles would form clouds blocking sunlight which would lower the temperature of the planet leading to disruption of essential processes like photosynthesis leading to mass starvation amongst people. This scenario is similar to the  asteroid theory that has been used to explain the extinction of the  dinosaurs.

I would also like to add that even though there are only 8 nuclear countries in the world,(Excluding Israel. It is believed that Israel does possess nuclear weapons, Israel has never officially acknowledged it!) no country is safe from the destruction that a nuclear war would cause. Nuclear winter would spread across the globe and its devestating effect will spread across the entire globe as well.So all those videos that claim that places like New Zealand might be safe are not true to a great extent. Even though such places might not face the immediate effects of a nuclear war, it is highly unlikely that any place on the earth will be protected from the after-effects of a nuclear war

Now, if nukes cause so much damage, how could they be a blessing in disguise. To put it in simple words, it is because of the fear of nuclear weapons. Let me explain in more detail. There hasn’t been a full-blown war involving many nuclear countries since World War Two. Why? Because countries are aware of the devastation nuclear weapons can cause. Nuclear countries are aware that use of nuclear weapons will lead to MUD( Mutually Assured Destruction). All countries know that in a nuclear war, there would be no victor. All the countries involved in such a war will face such huge problems that their developmental pace will be set back by decades if not centuries. There would be a huge loss of life and infrastructure. Also, the environment would become so harsh that survival would become difficult. So even though countries might threaten to use nuclear bombs, it is highly unlikely they would do so. There is just no incentive to use nuclear bombs for any country. So unless there is any country that wants to commit suicide, it is highly unlikely we will have to go through a nuclear war in the future(At least I hope so)