Estimated world nuclear stockpile: 5000 megatons total yield [1]<p>Estimated total yield of tests up to 1980: 510 megatons (418 atmospheric) [2]<p>It's hard to find good numbers on the total yield of all nuclear tests to date, but the ballpark figure is 10% of current stockpiles. This is actually somewhat comforting. We've all heard scary stories saying that we have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world dozens of times over, but the truth is we've detonated 10% of the total current stockpile in the course of weapon testing with barely any noticeable impact. Yes, it will indeed suck much worse if nuclear bombs ever target populated areas, but the planet will likely recover and live on.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/basics/nuclear-stockpiles.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/...</a><p>[2]<a href="http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/basics/nuclear-stockpiles.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/...</a>
Blogspam, original video here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjAqR1zICA0" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjAqR1zICA0</a>
It doesn't have the Aum Shinrikyo Australia event. So it's good that they're not including speculation.<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/21/science/seismic-mystery-in-australia-quake-meteor-or-nuclear-blast.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/21/science/seismic-mystery-in...</a><p>> LATE on the evening of May 28, 1993, something shattered the calm of the Australian outback and radiated shock waves outward across hundreds of miles of scrub and desert. Around the same time, truck drivers crossing the region and gold prospectors camping nearby saw the dark sky illuminated by bright flashes, and they and other people heard the distant rumble of loud explosions.<p>[...]<p>> The evidence was ominous. Investigators discovered that the cult, Aum Shinrikyo, had tried to buy Russian nuclear warheads and had set up an advanced laboratory on a 500,000-acre ranch in Australia near the puzzling upheaval. At the ranch, investigators found that the sect had been mining uranium, a main material for making atomic bombs.
Note: due to the ratification of the Partial Test Ban treaty in 1963, every test after that year has been conducted underground. (With the notable exception of China, which isn't a signatory, and has detonated a couple nuclear weapons in the atmosphere post-1963.)<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_Test_Ban_Treaty" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_Test_Ban_Treaty</a><p>EDIT: China.
It's revealing to me that the US is far ahead of the Soviets in nuclear explosions. Somehow, given all the "evil Ruskies" outcry, I thought it to be the opposite.
For anyone who hadn't read it yet, there is a relevant very short story by Isaac Asimov called Hell-Fire: <a href="http://www.tep-online.info/short/hell.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.tep-online.info/short/hell.htm</a><p><i>“That these bombs are man’s death sentence. We don’t seem to be able to learn that.”</i><p>These must have been incredibly scary times. The first time in our modern history that we came close to our own extinction.
Fascinating read about this topic:
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illusion/dp/1594202273/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&keywords=nuclear%20explosions&linkCode=ur2&qid=1384507624&sr=8-2&tag=produc05-20" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illu...</a><p>Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety
It's very sad to see a spam blog submission like this on HN. Create a page with a short description of a 3 year old video, embed the video, welcome to the front page.<p>Please flag this crap.