How Would A Nuclear War Effect the United States?

With the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, many people have begun to wonder, and worry, if nuclear weapons will eventually come into play. As of 2022, Russia has around 6,000 nuclear warheads which is nearly half of the nuclear weapons in the entire world. Of their stockpile 1,500 are retired and going to be dismantled, but the 4,500 nuclear warheads that remain include ballistic missiles and rockets, which are considered to be strategic nuclear weapons. What would happen if Russia, or another country, decided to shoot nuclear missiles at the U.S., and how much of the country would be affected by the fallout?

We came across this map on Reddit that shows the effects a full-scale nuclear exchange would have across the country if the United States was targeted in a nuclear war. The map was created based on data from FEMA and includes three different types of targets for nuclear weapons: civilian, military, and infrastructure. Each target on the map includes a range around it to show how far the effects a nuclear explosion in that area would reach. The effects of the nuclear weapons lessen as the range moves farther from the target, with less time in a shelter required to survive the nuclear fallout. Those closest to the target would be in the severe fallout zone and would need to live in a shelter for more than 3 weeks to survive. The medium fallout zone requires 1-3 weeks in a shelter, minor fallout zone would require 2-7 days in a shelter, and the minimal fallout zone is far from from the target would not require shelter to survive.

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What other countries have nuclear weapons? Nine countries around the world have nuclear weapons; in addition to Russia they include the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea.