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If there was a nuclear fall-out cloud, hypothetically...

6 replies

LexyMa · 11/04/2013 21:53

...are the weather tracking/forecasting systems available today really very sophisticated, and if there was a nuclear war going on over in Korea, as long as you got on the interweb you would know when to stay indoors so you could avoid the effects of it once it got round the world to, say, here?

Or are the effects so minimal once it has dispersed outside the immediate zone (I am thinking like Chernobyl, where presumably the most badly affected areas didn't get any warning whatsoever) that it's not worth worrying about whether you try to track it on weather systems or not?

Any of you weather gurus want to hypothesise with me?!? I am not one for OFRSs so am really looking for a sort of logical reason to stay relaxed about it.

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LexyMa · 12/04/2013 11:58

anyone?

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OhYouBadBadKitten · 12/04/2013 23:05

Will get back to you tomorrow :)

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OhYouBadBadKitten · 13/04/2013 11:21

Lost everything I wrote :(

Radiation detection systems really are sophisticated now, even during Chernobyl we knew what was going on. When Fukishima went wrong those on the US west coast kept an eye on things.

I'm no expert by any means!!!!! But my feeling is that any fall out would probably end up in a circulatory pattern around the pacific (especially if they were aiming for Guam) The US coast would keep an eye on it but I don't think would need to go into hiding or anything (think about all those nuclear tests at the Bikini Atoll in the 40s and 50s!)

Will have a look later to see what might happen if they chucked it westwards (why would they do that?) but dh is huffing about waiting for me to put my shoes on and go out!

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LexyMa · 13/04/2013 13:37

thank you!!! Given that there is a shorter arc over the pole, an NK missile might not go west as such but over the top - then anybody with a missile defence system might push it off its course... but actually I was thinking that the more likely nuclear strike would be made by the US against NK.

Although, who does NK actually have a beef with? Any conflict would probably just be between them and whoever had decided to be the world's policeman.

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OhYouBadBadKitten · 13/04/2013 14:09

I think the furtherest their missiles can reach is Alaska. I don't think they would try for that for a variety of reasons. I think they might go for Guam if they were in a position to go nuclear but I'm only guessing based on what I've read over the passed few days as weather is much more my thing!