Of late, the big question on the table is whether or not Iran should be able to make an A-bomb and then threaten the rest of the world with it. Well, that got me to thinking about how many bombs there actually are out there.
Here's the question I asked Google's AI machine - "How many nukes would it take to kill everyone on the planet?"
The answer I got back is kinda chilling, and I guess there really is no correct answer to the specific question. However, according to Google, estimates for how many nuclear weapons it would take to cause human extinction vary wildly based on the method of "destruction" — whether it be through direct blasts, long-term climate failure, or "salted" radiation. While a few thousand weapons could end modern civilization, completely eradicating every human on the planet is significantly more difficult.
Scientists and historians have proposed different thresholds for global destruction:
10 to 100 "Super" Bombs: In 1945, Los Alamos scientists estimated that between 10 and 100 extremely high-yield "super" bombs could put the entire human race in peril.
400 Standard Atomic Bombs: Some commentators suggest that detonating approximately 400 modern atomic bombs could be enough to wipe out humanity.
100 Regional Weapons: A conflict using just 100 modest nuclear weapons (roughly 1% of the global stockpile) could trigger a "nuclear winter," causing global famine that would put over 2 billion people at risk of starvation.
1.3 Million High-Yield Warheads: To kill everyone through direct blast and heat (assuming an equal distribution of humanity across land), it is mathematically estimated that over 1.3 million one-megaton warheads would be required.
