The Terrifying True Scale of Nuclear Weapons
The Terrifying True Scale of Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear weapons have come a long way and come in all types of different sizes. Some are relatively small while others are enormous, so big they boggle the mind at what they can be capable of. This video analyzes the sizes and impacts of various different nuclear devices, the history of nuclear weapons and what countries in the world are in possession of such devices.
Music used is by Ross Bugden, check out his channel here! / @rossbugden
The exact song is titled; Something wicked, and can be found here • ♩♫ Epic Horror Synth Trailer Music ♪♬…
Data gathered from Nukemap, check them out!
Google Earth Pro used for several imaging shots, used under fair use.
Video Credits: Hiroshima bombing and crossroads nuclear weapons test: https://archive.org/details/AFP-67AG_… used here under fair use.
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Content
0 ->
0.5 -> Ever since the first
nuclear weapons test
2.31 -> in the deserts of New Mexico
and the bombings of Hiroshima
5.28 -> and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons
have become significantly more
8.49 -> powerful.
9.33 -> Since the first test in
New Mexico by the United
11.73 -> States in 1945,
2,475 nuclear weapons
16.74 -> have been detonated
across the globe.
18.78 -> Over 85% of those
detonations have
21 -> come from only two
countries, however--
22.89 -> the United States and
the former Soviet Union.
25.53 -> Only two of those
thousands of detonations
27.81 -> were ever used in a
war-- the ones dropped
29.76 -> on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during
World War II by the United
32.5 -> States.
33.42 -> But those bombs were very small
compared to modern weaponry.
36.7 -> The Hiroshima bomb produced
an explosion of 15 kilotons,
39.91 -> or 15,000 tons worth of TNT.
42.81 -> The bomb dropped on Nagasaki
had an explosion of 21 kilotons.
46.77 -> But how much bigger can
nuclear weapons possibly get?
49.65 -> The answer is, terrifyingly,
much, much bigger.
53.4 -> The largest nuclear weapon
currently in the United States
55.86 -> arsenal is the B38,
which can produce
58.2 -> a blast of 1.2 megatons.
60.66 -> To understand the
scale from here out,
62.58 -> one megaton is equal to
1 million tons of TNT,
65.79 -> and that is equal
to a 1,000 kilotons.
68.37 -> Remember that the Hiroshima
blast was just 15 kilotons.
71.58 -> So that means that the B83
produces a blast 80 times more
75.15 -> powerful than that.
76.47 -> What I've been
showing on this scale
78.12 -> is only the size of the mushroom
cloud that the bombs produced.
81.15 -> So to further add
to the scale, we're
82.74 -> going to place the size of Mt.
83.99 -> Everest, here, and the average
altitude of a commercial
86.34 -> airliner that you would
normally fly on, here.
89.04 -> So the Castle Bravo bomb is
the largest nuclear weapon ever
92.31 -> tested by the United States.
93.84 -> It produced a blast
of 15 megatons,
96.12 -> or about 1,000 times
the scale of Hiroshima.
99.57 -> But even that
pales in comparison
101.7 -> to the largest nuclear
weapon ever detonated.
104.13 -> In October 1961,
the Soviet Union
106.62 -> created the largest man-made
explosion ever in human history
109.68 -> when they detonated this
device-- known as the Tsar
112.11 -> Bomba-- here, over
this territory known
114.03 -> as Novaya Zemlya.
115.38 -> The bomb detonated
with an astounding
117.33 -> force of 50 megatons, or
about 3,333 Hiroshima blasts.
123.87 -> It was so powerful
that it almost
125.91 -> destroyed the plane that dropped
it-- shattered windows as far
129.18 -> away as Norway and Finland.
130.889 -> And the shock waves
created by the bomb
132.72 -> circled around the
entire earth three times.
135.87 -> But this test was
actually just a
137.79 -> scaled down version of what
was theoretically possible.
140.88 -> Although never
tested, the Soviets
142.8 -> did have plans to
create a bomb that
144.72 -> would be twice as powerful as
even the Tsar Bomba-- a bomb
147.896 -> so powerful that it
would have produced
149.52 -> a mindboggling 100 megaton
blast, or about 6,666 Hiroshima
155.94 -> blasts all together.
157.74 -> To get another sense
of scale, let's imagine
159.84 -> that Times Square
in New York City
161.28 -> would be the epicenter
of these blasts.
163.112 -> You can test this stuff out
yourself on the website Nukemap
165.57 -> after watching this video.
166.68 -> I'll provide a link
for it after the end,
168.388 -> but let's see the results first.
170.192 -> First off, we're going to show
the size of this detonation,
172.65 -> which was caused by the recent
North Korean test in 2013.
175.65 -> Following this, here is the size
of the Hiroshima detonation,
178.23 -> which isn't really
that much bigger.
179.729 -> But let's move on
to the B83 bomb
181.38 -> that we were talking about.
182.85 -> As you can see, it would
affect a much larger area
185.31 -> than the Hiroshima bomb.
186.57 -> But moving on past that
to the Castle Bravo test,
189.09 -> we can see how it truly
dwarfs everything before it.
192.51 -> But even that blast
is incredibly tiny
194.73 -> when we move on towards the
Tsar Bomba, as seen here.
198.01 -> And then finally,
for our scale, we
199.71 -> move on to how large the
blast from the theoretical 100
202.8 -> megaton version of the
Tsar Bomba would be.
205.17 -> The blast would be
so powerful-- this
207.372 -> is what the blast
radius would look
208.83 -> like if you were observing it
from the International Space
211.246 -> Station.
212.13 -> So the question then
becomes, should any of this
214.14 -> really worry you?
215.22 -> How many nuclear weapons
exist today anyway?
217.662 -> Well, in total,
there are estimated
219.12 -> to be around 15,600 nuclear
weapons in the world
222.6 -> currently-- enough to
destroy the entire planet
225.03 -> dozens of times over.
226.44 -> But only nine countries
control that stockpile,
229.08 -> and 92% of those weapons are
controlled by only the United
232.11 -> States and Russia.
233.28 -> The other 8% of the
global nuclear arsenal
235.68 -> is controlled in
descending order
237.09 -> of numbers by France, China,
the United Kingdom, Pakistan,
241.95 -> India, Israel, and North Korea.
244.8 -> Israel is, however,
highly secretive
246.72 -> about its nuclear
program and has never
248.43 -> publicly confirmed nor denied
the existence of their nukes.
251.476 -> It's just one of those
things where everybody
253.35 -> knows that they have
them, but nobody really
255.183 -> comes out and says so--
unless your name happens
257.43 -> to be Mordechai
Vanunu-- a man who did
259.589 -> reveal details about
Israel's nuclear program
261.99 -> and spent 18 years in
prison, including over 11
264.84 -> years in solitary confinement.
266.91 -> Also interesting to
note, South Africa
268.89 -> used to be in possession
of six nuclear weapons,
270.99 -> because the past
apartheid regime was
272.55 -> afraid of the 79% of the
population that couldn't vote
275.44 -> and communists trying to
overthrow their government.
277.76 -> But they eventually agreed to
dismantle all of them, which
280.2 -> makes South Africa
the only country
281.97 -> to ever acquire nuclear weapons
and then voluntarily get rid
284.97 -> of them.
285.63 -> Well, unless you don't
count Ukraine, Belarus,
287.82 -> or Kazakhstan, which
all had nuclear weapons
290.029 -> for a brief amount
of time after they
291.57 -> declared their independence
from the Soviet Union in 1991.
294.84 -> Ukraine is particularly
awkward, because
297.45 -> after their independence,
they found themselves
299.43 -> in possession of over
5,000 nuclear weapons,
302.49 -> which would make Ukraine-- for
a brief period-- the world's
304.98 -> third largest nuclear
power, and probably
307.26 -> one of the most powerful
countries on earth as a result.
310.14 -> They agreed to hand them all
over to Russia in exchange
312.72 -> for a super serious
promise that nobody
315.3 -> would violate their territory
or borders in the future.
318.18 -> And we all know how
that turned out.
320.31 -> As a result of that
happening, it's
322.082 -> doubtful that other
countries would
323.54 -> be thrilled to ever give
up their nuclear weapons
325.65 -> in the future.
326.46 -> But leave your
thoughts and comments
328.02 -> below about how you feel
one way or the other.
330.48 -> I'd also like if you posted
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333.06 -> to ask about me, personally.
334.68 -> My channel recently surpassed
100,000 subscribers,
337.44 -> and I'll be doing a short
Q&A video about myself
339.87 -> very shortly.
340.98 -> I'll try my best to answer
every question in that video.
343.919 -> So if you're interested
in that and more content,
345.96 -> just like this
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347.52 -> I hope that you'll
subscribe to my channel
348.96 -> by clicking the link here.
350.13 -> And you can check out
some of my other videos
352.005 -> that I've posted over
here on the left.
353.67 -> As always, everybody,
thank you all for watching,
355.711 -> and we'll see you all next time.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs1CIrwg5zU