Russia's invasion of Ukraine has heightened the risk of a nuclear conflict. What would a nuclear bomb blast look like for those on the ground, and what would happen in the aftermath?
The answer depends, of course, on how many weapons are dropped. Russia and the United States have 90% of the world's nuclear weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
Perhaps a more likely scenario, according to some foreign policy experts, involves a limited-scale nuclear conflict using so-called tactical atomic weapons.
According to the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies 30% to 40% of the U.S. & Russian arsenals are made up of these smaller bombs, which have ranges of less than 310 miles 500 km by land
There are different types and sizes of nuclear weapons, but modern bombs start by triggering a fission reaction.
Radiation is the secondary, & much more insidious, consequence of a nuclear blast. The fission bombs dropped on Japan created local fallout, according to Nuclear Choices for the Twenty-First Century,
Radioactivity and fallout would have serious environmental and health effects. Depending on the size of a nuclear conflict, the blasts could even affect the climate.