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grundar t1_iyn60df wrote

Reply to comment by UniversalMomentum in Is it possible that nuclear defense technologies will surpass the abilities of nuclear weapons in the future, rendering them near useless? by Wide-Escape-5618

> Mutual assured destruction was never real.

Published research says otherwise.

That paper predicts global mass starvation from a nuclear exchange involving 250 smallish warheads, mostly from reduced agricultural output caused by reduced sunlight caused by massive soot emissions from burning cities.

Given that the USA and Russia still have 40x that many warheads between them even after arms reductions, mutual assured destruction was -- and is -- a realistic concern.

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SGTWhiteKY t1_iynzl8x wrote

People often think MAD means that every life in the planet will cease. This is false. It is that every major country will fail. There would absolutely be survivors, maybe even a thriving world again. But the destruction of the governments involved in a nuclear exchange is assured.

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