The fear of nuclear war has increased after the US and Israel attacked Iran. Many countries around the world have nuclear weapons, and while a nuclear blast would kill many, Earth’s environmental change would be devastating too. One expert now claims there are only two countries where you’d be safe.
The US and Israel conducted an attack on Iran on Friday, February 28. It killed the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iran launched strikes on US military facilities to retaliate.
Six US service members have been confirmed dead in the attacks, and as of Tuesday, no confirmed number of casualties on the Iranian side has been released.
Several countries in the Middle East, including Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar, have reported missile or drone strikes. Also, Israel has continued firing missiles at Lebanon.
An escalation in the region has many worried. As the US got involved, countries such as Russia, China, and North Korea all condemned the attack. China and Russia have interests in the region, and sadly, many more people might die in the days that come.
At the same time, fears of a nuclear war are increasing. Several countries are in possession of nuclear weapons, and if used, they could wipe out not only a few countries but also billions of lives worldwide.
Two countries that would survive a nuclear war, according to combat expert
So, in the case of a nuclear war, what countries could consider themselves to be somewhat in a safe zone? Speaking on the Diary Of A CEO podcast, bestselling author Annie Jacobsen, writer of Nuclear War: A Scenario, painted a horrifying picture of what a global nuclear war could lead to.
On the podcast, the expert claimed that around five billion people would be dead within the first 72 minutes. The consequences could be a mini-ice age.
“Most of the world, certainly the mid-latitudes, would be covered in sheets of ice …places like Iowa and Ukraine would be just snow for 10 years,” Annie Jacobsen said. “Agriculture would fail, and when agriculture fails, people just die.”
“On top of that, you have the radiation poisoning because the ozone layer will be so damaged and destroyed that you couldn’t be outside in the sunlight – people will be forced to live underground.”
Together with climate expert Professor Brian Toon, Jacobsen stated that only two countries in the world could sustain agriculture: New Zealand and Australia.
Moreover, other safe places could be Switzerland, Iceland, South Africa, Tuvalu, and Chile. So why those? Well, these aren’t countries that have nuclear weapons in their possession, and some are able to sustain agriculture.
