Nuclear weapons vs mother nature?
Which is more dangerous and more powerful, nuclear bombs (like the Hiroshima bombs or Hydrogen bombs), or the forces of nature (Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Lightning, Blizzards)
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answers:
Tom S say: Well volcanoes make a nuke look like a firecracker. "An explosive eruption like Tambora releases huge amount of energy. A rough estimate for the 1815 event is ~1.4 x 1020 joules of energy were released across the few days of eruption. One ton of TNT releases ~4.2 x 109 joules, so this eruption was 33 billion tons of TNT. That’s 2.2 million Little Boys (the first atomic bomb)."
https://www.wired.com/2015/04/tambora-18...
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Old Man Dirt say: "War is the worst disaster that can happen in a modern society!"
It is one thing to talk about how much energy something releases and another to look at the cost to humanity.
So I am sticking to an answer that was found in a Navy Disaster Control book.
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CarolOklaNola say: Forces of nature. Water is very destructive. Earthquakes can be more powerful than nuclear bombs. So can tornadoes and hurricanes. Yesterday's tornado in Alabama has 23 fatalities 3 hours ago.
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Robert J say: Nature!
To put it in context, a hypothetical thousand megaton [Gigaton] atomic weapon would have an energy release of around 4.2 x 10^18 joules.That is, 4.2 Quintillion joules.
[50,000 times more than the 20 kiloton bomb used at Hiroshima].
"Typhoon Nancy" release 52 quintillion joules per day; equivalent to more than twelve of those gigaton atomic bombs each day it lasted...
The biggest nuke ever test detonated is actually only about 10 megaton size, so the typhoon was like over 1,230 of those being detonated each day - or well over half a million 20 kiloton size weapons daily...
Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions can also reach the many-quintillions-of-joules energy levels, making the biggest nukes look puny.
eg.
https://interestingengineering.com/bigge...
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TexHabs say: Both have the potential to destroy humanity, but personally, I'd rather deal with nature than lunatics.
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mac say: a nuke can kill millions with just 1 strike...and millions afterwords with fall out......
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