So have tardigrades, also known as water bears or moss piglets. Some fish, like goldfish or the mummichog, are quite hardy when it comes to withstanding radiation. And the discovery of cockroaches crawling in rubble following the Hiroshima atom bomb led to the common saying that cockroaches will inherit the Earth.
Australia and New Zealand best placed to survive nuclear apocalypse, study finds. The lucky country can count on one more piece of good fortune, with researchers finding Australia – followed by neighbour New Zealand – best placed to survive a nuclear winter and help reboot a collapsed human civilisation.
But a new study finds that some people two to seven miles away could survive—if they're lucky enough to find just the right kind of shelter.
Remain in the most protective location (basement or center of a large building) for the first 24 hours unless threatened by an immediate hazard (e.g., fire, gas leak, building collapse, or serious injury) or informed by authorities that it is safe to leave.
Here's a fun fact that's nice to know, but we hope you never, ever need to use: the best place to hide during a nuclear bomb explosion is in a strong, concrete structure, researchers at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus say in a January 2023 study published in the journal Physics of Fluids.
Some estimates name Maine, Oregon, Northern California, and Western Texas as some of the safest locales in the case of nuclear war, due to their lack of large urban centers and nuclear power plants.
THE NEXT 48 HOURS
You have been sheltered because of the potential for dangerous levels of radiation in the first 24 hours following a nuclear detonation. After 24 hours, outdoor radiation levels will have fallen significantly but may still warrant protective measures in your area.
Irwin Redlener at Columbia University specialises in disaster preparedness and notes that there are six cities in the US that are more likely to be targeted in a nuclear attack – New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC.
Beta particles travel appreciable distances in air, but can be reduced or stopped by a layer of clothing, thin sheet of plastic or a thin sheet of aluminum foil. Several feet of concrete or a thin sheet of a few inches of lead may be required to stop the more energetic gamma rays.
A Primary Target for Annihilation
But from there, as counterforce evolves into counter-value, Russian missiles would begin targeting larger cities, including New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. (Note that Washington, D.C. would most likely have already been hit in the first wave of attacks.)
Scientists have recently revealed that Australia and New Zealand are best placed to survive a nuclear apocalypse and help reboot collapsed human civilisation. The study, published in the journal Risk Analysis. These countries include not just Australia and New Zealand, but also Iceland, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Food with a long shelf life—Examples of this include canned, dried, and packaged food products. Store enough food for each member of the household for at least 3 days. from the tap. Each person in the household will need about 1 gallon per day; plan on storing enough water, per person, for at least 3 days.
Can one survive a nuclear blast hiding in a basement? The basement is the safest place to hide for this type of emergency. The radioactive dust will settle over the roof and outer walls when the fallout occurs. The belowground position of the basement provides protection, thanks to the solid-packed earth around it.
Recovery would probably take about 3-10 years, but the Academy's study notes that long term global changes cannot be completely ruled out. The reduced ozone concentrations would have a number of consequences outside the areas in which the detonations occurred.
In the event of a global nuclear catastrophe, researchers predict that pockets of survivors will endure, at least for a time, particularly in island nations such as New Zealand, Australia, the Solomon Islands, Iceland and Vanuatu. The study was published in Risk Analysis, a peer-reviewed academic journal.
But the vast majority of the human population would suffer extremely unpleasant deaths from burns, radiation and starvation, and human civilization would likely collapse entirely.
Shielding: Barriers of lead, concrete, or water provide protection from penetrating gamma rays. Gamma rays can pass completely through the human body; as they pass through, they can cause damage to tissue and DNA.
Lead has long been considered "the element of choice" for radiation shielding due to its attenuating properties. Lead is a corrosion-resistive and malleable metal. Lead's high density (11.34 grams per cubic centimeter) makes it an effective barrier against X-ray and gamma-ray radiation.
In December 2001, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said if there was a radiation emergency, people should take a drug that would help protect them from thyroid cancer. This drug is called potassium iodide (KI). The New York State Health Department agrees.
It would take a land- based missile about 30 minutes to fly between Russia and the United States; a submarine-based missile could strike in as little as 10 to 15 minutes after launch.
To increase the probability of an intercept, the United States has to shoot multiple interceptors at each incoming ballistic missile. At present, because its inventory of interceptors is limited, the United States can shoot down only a handful of ballistic missiles that have relatively unsophisticated countermeasures.
The Bulletin has reset the minute hand on the Doomsday Clock 25 times since its debut in 1947, most recently in 2023 when we moved it from 100 seconds to midnight to 90 seconds to midnight.
Removing the outer layer of clothing can remove up to 90 percent of radioactive material. Take a shower or wash with soap and water to remove fallout from any skin or hair that was not covered. If you cannot wash or shower, use a wipe or clean wet cloth to wipe any skin or hair that was not covered.
At a distance of 20-25 miles downwind, a lethal radiation dose (600 rads) would be accumulated by a person who did not find shelter within 25 minutes after the time the fallout began. At a distance of 40-45 miles, a person would have at most 3 hours after the fallout began to find shelter.
Even though there is very little fallout that still exists in the environment, it is important to remember that recent fallout, within about 10 to 20 miles downwind of the detonation, can be very dangerous. This section talks about the different ways we can be exposed to radiation if a nuclear detonation occurs.