WW3 myths

As we approach WW3 it is important to dispel some of the myths surrounding such a war.  

Gigantic 20 megaton warheads will rain down on all cities

While there are gigantic nukes in the megaton ranges they are pretty rare.  The vast majority of nuclear weapons are 500 kiloton yield or lower.  The yield of a nuke refers to its explosion being an equivalent explosion to a quantity of TNT.  If you have a nuke with a yield of 500 kilotons it is an equivalent explosive energy to 500,000 tonnes of TNT.  

Nuclear bombs destroy entire cities (no matter how big the city)

That all depends on the yield of the warhead that hits the city and it also depends on if it is an air blast or a surface blast.  An air blast is when the warhead detonates several hundred feet above the city and is the preferred method as it tends to cause a lot more damage.  As most nukes are 500 kilotons or less it can cause unbelievable amounts of damage to a city but will not destroy most of a city.  If you live in the suburbs you should survive.  It is most likely that you will be killed in the aftermath of the blast rather than from the blast itself.  

If you look at the light flash you will turn to dust

This is not how people are vaporised during a nuclear explosion.  If you look at the blast as the initial flash is occurring you are guaranteed to do damage to your eyes.  The degree of damage done will be entirely dependent on if you look directly at the flash and at what stage of the flash you look at it.  The initial flash will only last approximately 0.4 to 20 seconds.  

All Humans on Earth will be killed

Not at all.  While a worldwide thermo-nuclear war will be extremely devastating there will be a lot of survivors.  It is estimated that approximately 3 billion people will be killed during the initial strikes with a further 1 billion dying in the coming years due to radiation poisoning and nuclear winter.  Approximately 3.5 billion people will survive and go on to rebuild society.   While a worldwide thermo-nuclear war will be extremely devastating there will be a lot of survivors. Click To Tweet   I recommend the movie Threads as it has the most realistic portrayal of nuclear war, despite being released in 1984.