At this writing (April 7, 2013) the situation in North Korea is extremely critical. Kim Jung Un, the child leader of that 4th-world nation, is threatening a nuclear strike on everyone in sight, in particular the United States. No one seems certain of just what his capabilities are, and the media keeps playing it down, but what does seem certain is that Kim is unstable and apparently believes his own brainwashing, i.e., that he can "destroy" the United States.
Kim can't destroy the United States, but if he does have the capability to fire a nuke over a great enough distance, he might succeed in killing a lot of Americans (and people of other nations such as Japan and South Korea). We know for a fact that he has successfully tested some short- and medium-range missiles, and he has detonated at least one nuclear warhead, so the threat is real. He has also nullified the cease-fire of 1953 that ended the shooting (but not the war) on the Korean Peninsula, so whether his threats are sincere or just a video game in his mind, he must be taken seriously. (There are also rumors that he has stealth submarines with nukes on board, but I haven't been able to verify that.)
This article is not to debate Kim's capabilities, but to give you a heads-up on what you can do if he actually does pull the trigger. Most people under fifty have probably never read up on what nuclear war is like, so you may not know what to do. I lived under the threat my entire life, so I've read quite a bit over the years. My purpose today is to SCARE you.
I and most of the people I know live on the West Coast of the United States; if Kim can reach the U.S. mainland at all, we will be the most likely target. Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle are the most likely choices for a nuclear strike, but North Korea's targeting accuracy might not be all that swell, so a missile launched from that country might land anywhere. No one is safe.
When I was a kid, growing up under the "Red Scare" (which today's sneering skeptics seem to think was a joke), we had air-raid sirens that would sound if Soviet nukes were detected; we also had CONELRAD, the equivalent of today's Emergency Broadcast System, that would interrupt radio and TV broadcasts if anything happened. Today I doubt if those sirens still exist, or would be used in the event of a nuclear strike, but we do have EBS... so you may or may not get any warning if a nuclear strike is inbound. It is very possible that the first warning you will get will be...
The FLASH.
The nuclear flash is the brightest thing you will ever (hopefully never) see. It is so bright that everything vanishes for three to five seconds, then gradually color returns to the universe. I saw one once, in 1958, when atomic bombs were being routinely tested in Nevada; I was ten years old and got up early, before dawn, because we knew in advance that a test would be conducted. I lived about 300 miles to the west of the test, with the Sierra Nevada mountains in between, but the light was so bright it erased everything for a few seconds. And I was indoors at the time.
If you see the flash, and you are outdoors, DO NOT LOOK AT IT. Depending on the size of the bomb and your distance from it, just looking at it can melt your eyeballs in your head. Even if you survive, you will be blind for life. (Even if you are a hundred miles away, don't take the chance. Close your eyes and cover them with your hands if possible.)
Your chances of surviving a nuclear blast depend on many factors. The first and most important of these is your distance from the explosion. If you are within a certain radius (which varies depending on the type and size of bomb), you're doomed. Nothing can save you, so don't even worry about it.
Kim can't destroy the United States, but if he does have the capability to fire a nuke over a great enough distance, he might succeed in killing a lot of Americans (and people of other nations such as Japan and South Korea). We know for a fact that he has successfully tested some short- and medium-range missiles, and he has detonated at least one nuclear warhead, so the threat is real. He has also nullified the cease-fire of 1953 that ended the shooting (but not the war) on the Korean Peninsula, so whether his threats are sincere or just a video game in his mind, he must be taken seriously. (There are also rumors that he has stealth submarines with nukes on board, but I haven't been able to verify that.)
This article is not to debate Kim's capabilities, but to give you a heads-up on what you can do if he actually does pull the trigger. Most people under fifty have probably never read up on what nuclear war is like, so you may not know what to do. I lived under the threat my entire life, so I've read quite a bit over the years. My purpose today is to SCARE you.
I and most of the people I know live on the West Coast of the United States; if Kim can reach the U.S. mainland at all, we will be the most likely target. Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle are the most likely choices for a nuclear strike, but North Korea's targeting accuracy might not be all that swell, so a missile launched from that country might land anywhere. No one is safe.
When I was a kid, growing up under the "Red Scare" (which today's sneering skeptics seem to think was a joke), we had air-raid sirens that would sound if Soviet nukes were detected; we also had CONELRAD, the equivalent of today's Emergency Broadcast System, that would interrupt radio and TV broadcasts if anything happened. Today I doubt if those sirens still exist, or would be used in the event of a nuclear strike, but we do have EBS... so you may or may not get any warning if a nuclear strike is inbound. It is very possible that the first warning you will get will be...
The FLASH.
The nuclear flash is the brightest thing you will ever (hopefully never) see. It is so bright that everything vanishes for three to five seconds, then gradually color returns to the universe. I saw one once, in 1958, when atomic bombs were being routinely tested in Nevada; I was ten years old and got up early, before dawn, because we knew in advance that a test would be conducted. I lived about 300 miles to the west of the test, with the Sierra Nevada mountains in between, but the light was so bright it erased everything for a few seconds. And I was indoors at the time.
If you see the flash, and you are outdoors, DO NOT LOOK AT IT. Depending on the size of the bomb and your distance from it, just looking at it can melt your eyeballs in your head. Even if you survive, you will be blind for life. (Even if you are a hundred miles away, don't take the chance. Close your eyes and cover them with your hands if possible.)
Your chances of surviving a nuclear blast depend on many factors. The first and most important of these is your distance from the explosion. If you are within a certain radius (which varies depending on the type and size of bomb), you're doomed. Nothing can save you, so don't even worry about it.
