10 Common Misconceptions About Science In Film And TV That Bug Real Scientists

Countless stories exist in which nukes are launched across the globe leading to the total destruction of the Earth, with the few remaining survivors scavenging and killing for the last few scraps available.

Well, as hopefully you’ve figured out by now, I’m here to tell you that this is wrong (sorry to all of you with hopes and aspirations of living in a post-apocalyptic society, maybe the zombies can have your back on this one. Though the portrayal of zombies opens up another warm body of worms).

The fact is, that although nuclear bombs can cause destruction on unequivocal levels, there just is not enough nuclear payload available to destroy all of Earth.

In fact, a study was recently carried out simulating what would happen if conflicts between North Korea and the USA escalated into a global nuclear war. In this scenario, most countries actually survive relatively unscathed, largely due to lots of open and unused space in many countries. Only two nations came out of the simulations completely destroyed, the UK and North Korea. Sorry readers from either.

Yes, this would result in a change to the global economy and environment, but not a species-ending, long-scale nuclear winter and post-apocalyptic wasteland you see so frequently.