<i> male narrator:
Half the world is aflame</i> <i> as the horrors of war</i> <i> explode on a scale
unparalleled in history.</i> <i> [dramatic music]</i> <i> The nuclear nightmare
that has haunted man</i> <i> for decades</i> <i> has finally come true.</i> [people screaming] <i> - It's explosion,</i> <i> chaos, disorder,</i> death, destruction. - There wouldn't be life
as we know it. <i> ♪ </i> <i> - Western civilization
as we know it now,</i> will be,
for all practical purposes, wiped out of the map. <i> narrator:
A global cataclysm,</i> <i> not of nature,</i> <i> but at the hands
of mankind itself.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> Will you be ready?</i> <i> When Doomsday strikes,</i> <i> can any of us survive?</i> [indistinct shouting] <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator:
In August 1945,</i> <i> nuclear war became a reality</i> <i> when the United States
dropped two atomic bombs</i> <i> on cities in Japan.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> Seven decades later,</i> <i> the arsenals
of the great powers</i> <i> are 140,000 times
more powerful.</i> <i> What would happen if
a nuclear war broke out today?</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ - You want to hole up somewhere
with a lot of supplies. Somewhere, preferably,
heavily protected. [people screaming] - We no longer
have the shelters. We don't maintain them. We stopped maintaining them
decades ago. <i> ♪</i> ♪ - This is a long-term, horrible, horrible catastrophe. <i> ♪</i> ♪ - It would be the worst thing ever to happen
in human history. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator:
It's a typical morning</i> <i> in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> Tourists crowd around
the world-famous Liberty Bell.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - The normal citizen</i> would not have much warning. <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator: Weighing more
than 2,000 pounds,</i> <i> the imposing bell
seems indestructible,</i> <i> despite its famous crack.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> - The light is blinding.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> The bell itself
is blistering and boiling,</i> <i> and then everything is gone.</i> <i> ♪ </i> The tourist hasn't
seen any of this after that initial flash, because the tourist
themself is gone. <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator: It's the moment
people across the world</i> <i> have feared
for more than 70 years.</i> <i> An incident between
the United States</i> <i> and Russia has escalated...</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> Plunging the world
into nuclear war.</i> <i> man: Ignition.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> [man speaks Russian]</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator: The first
nuclear explosions of the war</i> <i> aren't aimed at
bringing down buildings</i> <i> or killing people.</i> <i> Intercontinental
ballistic missiles</i> <i> are launched high
into the atmosphere</i> <i> where they explode 300 miles
above the United States,</i> <i> Europe, and Russia.</i> <i> Their purpose is
to destroy electronics.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ - If you set off a nuclear
weapon in the upper atmosphere, you can produce
an electromagnetic pulse that can disable
electronics all around a huge area of the earth. <i> [upbeat music]</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - It's not easy to tell</i> what kind of effects you'll have because it's such a large area. [indistinct chattering] <i> Some equipment is
going to be affected.</i> <i> Some of it is going
to be affected,</i> <i> but not totally destroyed.</i> So it's gonna create
a very chaotic situation with regards to
our very high-tech society. <i> [dramatic music]</i> <i> narrator: The electromagnetic
pulse or EMP,</i> <i> shoots massive currents</i> <i> through electronic circuits</i> <i> creating chaos.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> All over
the Southern Hemisphere,</i> <i> emails and texts
from the north suddenly stop.</i> - Hello? Hello?
Hello? <i> narrator:
The interconnected world</i> <i> is beginning to unravel.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> In Sydney, Australia...</i> <i> an international banker
loses connection</i> <i> with her colleague
on Wall Street.</i> - Hello? <i> ♪ </i> <i> In Santiago, Chile...</i> <i> a businessman is cut off</i> <i> from a video conference call
based in Moscow.</i> <i> But while there's confusion
below the equator...</i> [horns honking] <i> In the Northern Hemisphere
where the war has begun,</i> <i> there's widespread turmoil.</i> <i> On highways from
the United States to Canada</i> <i> and from Western Europe
to Russia,</i> <i> traffic comes to a standstill</i> <i> as many electric circuits
in cars are fried.</i> <i> The confusion is compounded</i> <i>because some electronic devices
are disabled</i> <i> and some are not.</i> - Some cars just stop. [brakes screech] <i> This will create
wholesale chaos</i> <i> on a major thoroughfare,</i> and traffic will be
snarled for hours, possibly even days. [horns honking] - It seems like
some kind of spooky, crazy thing is going on. <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator: But it's not
just bedlam on the highways.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> People everywhere
in the Northern Hemisphere</i> <i> are faced
with unexpected crises.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> The pilot of a passenger jet</i> <i> starts his initial descent
into Brussels, Belgium...</i> [electronics powering down] <i> When things suddenly
start to go wrong.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - It's not going to be
immediately obvious to a pilot</i> what has gone on, except a lot
of the electronic equipment on this jet is going to either
fail or be disrupted. <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator: As the world
headquarters for NATO,</i> <i> Brussels is a prime target
for Russia's EMP disruption.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> The pilots can't get a signal
from flight control.</i> <i> Unable to land,</i> <i> they are running out
of fuel and options.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> While the public at large is
in a state of mass confusion,</i> <i> both the American
and Russian armies</i> <i> are operating at full-speed.</i> <i> Their electronic systems
hardened against</i> <i> the electromagnetic effects</i> <i> of the atmospheric
nuclear explosions.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> The major nuclear powers
unleash their arsenals.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> There are about 15,000
nuclear warheads</i> <i> in the world today.</i> <i> 5,000 in storage
are due to be dismantled.</i> <i> The rest
remain weapons of war.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ - Out of the 10,000
nuclear weapons that are in the possession
of the military, roughly 1,800 are on alert, ready to go
on top of ballistic missiles under a short notice. The overwhelming amount
of nuclear weapons on alert are U.S. and Russian. <i> Britain and France have a few.</i> <i> Britain has about 40.</i> <i> France has about 50
that are on alert.</i> There are no other
nuclear weapon states that have
nuclear weapons on alert. <i> narrator:
While all of Britain's</i> <i> and France's warheads
are on submarines,</i> <i> the U.S. and Russia
have missiles</i> <i> both on subs and on land.</i> <i> Land missiles are based deep
in the heartland</i> <i> of each country.</i> <i> And while both sides
have them in silos,</i> <i> only Russia deploys
mobile launchers.</i> <i> These weapons are designed
to kill and destroy</i> <i> on an unthinkable level.</i> <i> - If you make
the rocket very large,</i> and you can make
nuclear warheads very small, you don't have to limit yourself to just one warhead per missile. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator: Some missiles
have as many as ten warheads,</i> <i> each one 50 times
as powerful as the bomb</i> <i> that destroyed Hiroshima
in 1945.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> - In the first strike
you're gonna have something</i> in the order of 600
to 700 ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads
from both countries flying against each other. <i> - A nuclear war
in the modern age</i> <i> is going to be pretty fast.</i> <i> A lot of it is gonna
be motivated by the fact</i> that a lot of our weapons are targeting a lot of
their weapons and vice versa. So whoever strikes first
gets to use their weapon. <i> If you leave the weapon
in the silo,</i> <i> and they're allowed to hit it,</i> <i> then you've lost it.</i> They call this
use it or lose it. <i> ♪ </i> <i> The first signs
that you're likely to get</i> <i> before any official news,</i> <i> are gonna be coming
from Twitter and Facebook</i> and other Internet sites <i>as people that are in the paths</i> <i> of these missile silos</i> <i> are gonna start reporting</i> <i>that there are a lot of rockets</i> <i> taking off nearby.</i> - [gasps] <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator: Planet Earth
erupts into nuclear war.</i> <i> For every person,
every family,</i> <i> the global conflict
becomes intensely personal.</i> <i> Where will our
next meal come from?</i> <i> Will there be water to drink?</i> <i> Will radiation kill me?</i> <i> Can I hide?</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i>Will mankind come to its senses</i> <i>and halt this self-destruction,</i> <i> or is this the beginning
of our final chapter?</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> man: Ignition.</i> <i> narrator: What would happen</i> <i> if a global nuclear war</i> <i> broke out today?</i> <i> Would you survive?</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> American and Russian
nuclear warheads</i> <i> fill the skies
above our planet</i> <i>as the unthinkable has started,</i> <i> World War III.</i> <i> These missiles
of mass destruction</i> <i> will take 10 to 30 minutes
to reach their targets.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> - The first cities
that would be hit are cities</i> that have important military
and civilian leadership and command structure in them; <i> Washington D.C.;</i> <i> Moscow.</i> <i> You would have enormously</i> <i> devastating consequences.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> It's hard to visualize,</i> unless you've seen pictures of the destruction
that happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, <i> the two bombs
that were dropped over Japan.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> And those were puny weapons</i> <i> compared to the large yield
warheads</i> that are on ballistic missiles. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator: The nuclear bomb
that destroyed Hiroshima</i> <i> in 1945 was only 3%
as powerful</i> <i> as each of the warheads
heading for Washington D.C.,</i> <i> and today's technology allows</i> <i> for exact marks to be hit.</i> <i> - In Washington D.C.,
the most likely targets</i> <i> to be hit very early on</i> include the White House
and the Pentagon. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator: While nuclear bombs
are often exploded in the air,</i> <i> the White House and Pentagon
are targeted</i> <i> for ground bursts</i> <i> detonating on the surface</i> <i> to destroy underground
war rooms</i> <i> and executive shelters.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - If you want to do
the most damage underground,</i> you set off a ground burst. It makes a crater
and destroys bunkers. <i> [fast tense music]</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator:
The Russian missile aimed</i> <i> at the White House
is exactly on target.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> - A 500-kiloton warhead attack</i> <i> on the White House</i> would create a fireball with a diameter of one mile. <i> narrator: Inside the fireball,</i> <i> temperatures reach more
than 10 million degrees,</i> <i> instantly killing
everyone it touches.</i> - It's like the center
of the sun. <i> Everything inside
of the fireball is incinerated.</i> You are vaporized. You are instantly
one with the universe. <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator: The blast pressure
outside the fireball</i> <i> is almost as deadly.</i> <i> ♪ </i> - <i> It throws things into you.</i> <i> It throws you into things.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> - You can have bones break...</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ And it could even rip the skin
off your bones. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - And it's going to be
letting out</i> <i> huge amounts of heat energy.</i> Just the heat alone from this is gonna be able to give
people third degree burns over a diameter of 5 1/2 miles. <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator:
Buildings and structures</i> <i> are not spared either.</i> <i> The Washington Monument,</i> <i> 555 feet tall,
crumbles.</i> <i>- The marble and granite blocks
of the Washington Monument</i> will break apart
under high pressure. They'll pulverize.
They'll turn to dust. The crystalline structure
of granite, while making it strong
under gravity, <i> blows apart
under high pressure.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator: Even a dozen miles
beyond the blast and the heat,</i> <i> the light robs eyewitnesses
of their sight.</i> [people screaming] - If you're standing far away
from a nuclear explosion that you don't
get killed instantly, you can still be blinded because the flash of light
is extraordinary, and it will just put
your retinas right out. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator: The blindness
only lasts a few minutes,</i> <i> but these people
won't live long enough</i> <i> to get their sight back.</i> <i> ♪ </i> - From one ground burst
explosion in Washington D.C., about 300,000 people
would be killed. Now imagine more than a dozen
of these explosions going off all over the city. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator:
At virtually the same time</i> <i> as Russian bombs
hit Washington,</i> <i> the U.S., Britain, and France</i> <i>strike Moscow with 80 warheads.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> The city becomes a field
of flaming wreckage,</i> <i> and a million people are dead</i> <i> almost instantly.</i> - It's not just boom, yay. Its boom, boom, boom,
boom, cloud, cloud, explosion, chaos, disorder, death, destruction. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> It's a hellscape.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator: While the U.S.
and Russian capitals</i> <i> are going up in flames...</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> Billions of people
don't yet know</i> <i> that a nuclear war has started</i> <i> thousands of miles away.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> In Sydney, Australia,</i> <i> the international banker
tries to reach</i> <i> her partners
in the U.S. and Europe...</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> But can't establish
any form of communication.</i> - Something's seriously wrong. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> At the American Embassy
in Tokyo,</i> <i> agents find that all lines
to Washington go down</i> <i> at the same time.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i>Some governments begin to piece
the news together from spy</i> <i> and weather satellites.</i> <i>They must either join the fight</i> <i> or do their best
to stay out of it.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> But while some nuclear powers
hold their fire,</i> <i> the war between the U.S.
and Russia rages on.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> - After the initial salvo,</i> the second tier of targets will include nuclear weapon
storage sites <i> and industries that support
the nuclear war.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator:
Among those targets</i> <i> are cities like Philadelphia</i> <i> where people are still unaware
that a war is underway.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> Here is where the tourists</i> <i> viewing the Liberty Bell
become victims of war.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> The carnage is massive,</i> <i>and this is just the beginning.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> Across the Atlantic Ocean,</i> <i> warheads now target
America's allies.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> In Brussels,
NATO Headquarters</i> <i> is among the targets hit.</i> <i> Just three miles away,</i> <i> the airport is also destroyed,</i> <i> stranding a plane
about to land.</i> <i> - A large jetliner</i> needs over a mile of runway
to land. If there are no runways, you can't land a Boeing
in a field. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - You don't carry a lot of
extra fuel 'cause it's heavy.</i> <i> ♪ </i> So now there's a ticking clock, and you've got to get
that plane down, and there's nowhere around. <i> narrator: At any given time,</i> <i>there are about 10,000 aircraft
in the air</i> <i> around the world.</i> <i> Thousands, like this one,</i> <i>suddenly have no place to land,</i> <i> and hundreds of miles above,</i> <i> more warheads streak
through space.</i> <i> Ordinary people become aware
of the terror.</i> <i> They rush to find cover,</i> <i> no one knowing where
the bombs will fall next.</i> <i> If they are outside
target cities,</i> <i> can they survive?</i> <i> Is anyplace on the planet
really safe?</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator:
Consider the unthinkable,</i> <i> a nuclear war spreads
across the world.</i> <i> Is everyone doomed,</i> <i> or will some of us survive?</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> Across the U.S.,
Russia,</i> <i> and Europe,
capitals, major cities,</i> <i> and military bases
have already been destroyed.</i> <i> Millions are dead.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> Word of the war spreads,</i> <i> and outside
the initial strike zones</i> <i>from Siberia to Southern Italy,</i> <i> people run to take shelter.</i> [people screaming] <i> ♪ </i> <i> In Kansas,
America's heartland,</i> <i> the first occupants arrive</i> <i> at a unique high-end
survival bunker</i> <i> lavishly outfitted
from the remains of a silo</i> <i> that once housed
an Atlas rocket,</i> <i> America's first
intercontinental</i> <i> ballistic missile.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> - There aren't very many
fallout shelters anymore,</i> but people have decked out
these missile silos into these luxury apartments. <i> [intense music]</i> -<i>
than $1,000,000,</i> <i> They cost more</i> <i> they have five years'
worth of food,</i> <i> they've got hydroponic
growing systems,</i> and apparently 70 people--
that's a community-- can live for five years and wait for the worst
to blow over. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - It's not impossible
to imagine creating a bunker</i> <i> where people could live
for five years.</i> Would they be happy?
I don't know. Depends on the people,
probably, and how nice the bunker is. <i> [dramatic music]</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator: But not everyone
in America's Midwest</i> <i> has access
to underground bunkers.</i> [siren wailing] <i> Those without are in peril.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> As more than 400
Russian warheads</i> <i> begin detonating
in powerful ground bursts</i> <i> to destroy missile silos</i> <i> buried deep under the surface.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> - Ground bursts are the worst
for nuclear fallout</i> because you're exploding
something on the ground, and you're getting
all this radioactive material mixed in with the dirt, and it gets launched up
into the air. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator:
The deadly radioactive clouds</i> <i> begin drifting
toward population centers.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> At Whiteman Air Force Base</i> <i>an hour outside of Kansas City,
Missouri,</i> <i> the crews manning
18 B-2 stealth bombers</i> <i> are rushing to take off.</i> <i> Along with B-52s,</i> <i> they are the only bombers</i> <i> designated to drop
nuclear bombs.</i> <i> This makes them prime targets,</i> <i> leaving American commanders
only one option.</i> - Scatter the planes.
Disburse them to other airports around the country
that are out of reach or haven't been destroyed yet. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator:
The planes are scrambling...</i> <i> just as the Russian warhead
hits.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> It's too late.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> Meanwhile, in Europe,</i> <i> another NATO capital
comes under fire</i> <i> as an 800-kiloton bomb</i> <i> reaches the city of Rome.</i> <i> With 50 times the power
of the Hiroshima bomb,</i> <i> it explodes in an airburst--</i> <i> a blast set to detonate</i> <i> before the warhead
hits the ground.</i> <i> ♪ </i> - If you want
the maximum destruction you have an airburst. You detonate the nuclear weapon
above a city and then it creates
this massive shockwave that destroys
everything underneath it. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator: Inside
the three-mile blast zone</i> <i> stands the 2,000-year-old
Colosseum.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> - It's built of
unreinforced concrete;</i> it's just gonna
get blown to dust. There will be
500 mile an hour winds that then will just scatter
this dust everywhere. <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator: Less than one hour
into nuclear war,</i> <i> it's already the deadliest day
in human history.</i> <i> A thousand warheads
have taken 25 million lives,</i> <i> and worse is yet to come.</i> <i> The missiles now take aim
at major population centers</i> <i> where the only goal</i> <i> is to kill.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator:
In 1945, the United States</i> <i> dropped two atomic bombs
in Japan,</i> <i> an indelible sign
of what is possible.</i> <i> What if nuclear war
broke out today?</i> <i> Could we survive?</i> <i> [epic choral music]</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> A fiery hell is crossing
the face of the Earth</i> <i> as almost 2,000 ominous
nuclear mushrooms</i> <i> scar the landscapes
of the U.S.,</i> <i> Europe, and Russia.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> Tens of millions are dead
in a lethal tide</i> <i> that stuns most survivors
into a blinding fear.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> World War III has suddenly
turned the great powers</i> <i> into wounded giants</i> <i>populated by desperate refugees</i> <i> with no place to go.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> In the flaming ruins
of Moscow,</i> <i> the radioactive landscape</i> <i> suddenly trembles</i> <i> as a low rolling thunder</i> <i> vibrates the air.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> It's the sound of
the bombing of London</i> <i> more than 900 miles
to the west.</i> <i> That city was destroyed
over an hour ago,</i> <i> but the soundwaves,
moving at 770 miles per hour,</i> <i> are reverberating
across Europe.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> Over the next few hours,</i> <i> people all over the world</i> <i> in cities
that haven't yet been hit...</i> [low rumbling] <i> Are shaken by the sound</i> <i> of distant nuclear strikes
from hours ago--</i> <i> ghosts of a war</i> <i> that is not yet over.</i> [rumbling] <i> For those not instantly killed
in the initial assaults,</i> <i> survival takes
presence of mind.</i> <i> Put aside the horror.</i> <i> Concentrate.</i> <i> Stockpile food.</i> <i> Stash away as much
water as you can.</i> <i> Stay inside.</i> <i> Take care of your own.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> Underground in Kansas,</i> <i> 70 survivors</i> <i> in a well-provisioned bunker</i> <i> know they are in
for the long haul.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> They are prepared
to defend themselves</i> <i> from outsiders.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> But what if
the unexpected happens?</i> <i> - What if one of them
has some sort of episode?</i> What if they have
a mental breakdown? I would really like to know how far they've thought of all of the different
contingencies because if just one comes up
that is unsolvable, you're losing those 70 people. <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator:
Meanwhile,</i> <i> there are survivors
in the air too.</i> <i> As Brussels burns,</i> <i> a passenger jet heads north
toward Hemiksem</i> <i> hoping that
this insignificant town</i> <i> will have somewhere to land.</i> <i> - The pilot has, actually,</i> <i> a really, really good option.</i> If you remember
the Miracle on the Hudson, <i> large jetliners are actually
really good gliders.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator:
The fuel tanks are empty.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> With no runway in sight...</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> The pilot eases the jet down
on the River Scheldt.</i> <i> ♪ </i> [applause] <i> For the moment,</i> <i> the passengers
and crew are safe,</i> <i>but their struggle for survival
in the nuclear ashes</i> <i> is only just beginning.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> An eerie pause
comes over the planet</i> <i> as the horror sinks in.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> The remaining nuclear weapons,</i> <i> mostly on submarines
and mobile launchers,</i> <i> will take at least two days
to reach launch positions</i> <i> and the attacks
will be widespread.</i> - Those forces might last
for days, they might last for weeks, <i> and theoretically,
there's no limit</i> <i> to how long the submarines
that are hiding</i> <i> in the oceans can survive.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator: As the war
expands worldwide,</i> <i> a Russian naval commander
finds a target of opportunity</i> <i> in the Southern Pacific...</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> An American aircraft carrier</i> <i> docked in Australia
at Sydney Harbor.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> The Russian commander</i> <i> launches a nuclear tipped
cruise missile at it</i> <i> to take it out.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> The carrier
and its 6,000 crew members</i> <i> are instantly vaporized,</i> <i> and outside the weapon's
half-mile fireball,</i> <i> the iconic Opera House
becomes collateral damage.</i> - Suddenly it's lit up
brightly-- more bright than
in the middle of the day. <i> ♪</i> ♪ - The individual plates
on the sails will peel off. The superstructure
will bend. <i> The building will get blown
inward and collapse.</i> This iconic structure
will crumble under its own weight <i> into this unfortunate,
catastrophic mess.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator:
6,000 miles away,</i> <i> American nukes strike Beijing</i> <i> as the U.S. suspects
Chinese involvement</i> <i> in the Sydney attack.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> Chinese submarines retaliate</i> <i> with nuclear hits
along America's west coast...</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> From Seattle...</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> To San Diego.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ - You would have
no structure standing. There would be
rubble everywhere. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator: The death toll
pushes past 100 million</i> <i> as thousands of square miles
are left smoldering</i> <i> where cities and military
bases once stood.</i> <i>- Look back at the atomic bombs</i> that were dropped
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If you just multiply
that by millions, you can imagine the aftermath
of a global nuclear exchange. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - My grandfather told me</i> <i> about landing in Hiroshima
after the bomb.</i> <i> He was on a medical ship,</i> <i> and what really struck him</i> <i> was the smell</i> of char, and death,
and destruction. He said he'd never smelled anything like it. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> And seeing the destruction,</i> <i> it shook him to his core.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator:
And yet, those who die</i> <i> in thermonuclear fireballs</i> <i> may be the lucky ones.</i> <i> Any survivors will have
to face the terrible aftermath</i> <i> of the widespread
destruction...</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> A nuclear winter.</i> [wind howling] <i> narrator:
What happens to a world</i> <i> after the destruction
of a total nuclear war?</i> <i> Can any of us survive?</i> <i> [solemn music]</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> Cities from America</i> <i> to Europe</i> <i> to Asia</i> <i> have been destroyed.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> In the U.S.
and Russia especially,</i> <i> the death toll is enormous.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - You would imagine</i> well over 100 million people in each country
have been killed. The way nuclear wars
might evolve, it is hard to imagine
that it would be limited. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator:
And the deadly effects</i> <i> are not confined to cities</i> <i> destroyed by bombs.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> When Russian warheads
struck American missile silos</i> <i> in the northern
mountain states,</i> <i> radioactive fallout</i> <i> began taking a massive toll.</i> <i> - Wind patterns would carry it</i> <i> and drop it on huge areas
of the country,</i> so there would essentially be
no safe place to go. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator:
Duluth, Minnesota.</i> <i> A small city of 86,000</i> <i> was just one of many places</i> <i> directly in the path
of the deadly clouds,</i> <i> and people here began to die</i> <i> from radiation sickness.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - Radiation sickness
is when your organs</i> <i> and tissues that are
necessary to keep you running,</i> <i> your nervous system,
and your blood--</i> if they absorb
enough radiation, they're gonna start
going offline. Suddenly all sorts of things
start to go wrong. <i> You'll get lots
of little blood spots,</i> <i> things that look like
burns on the body.</i> Vomiting. <i> - It's this sort of poisoning
of the body that happens.</i> Your hair falls out. Your body
just stops functioning, and it's a slow,
painful, awful death. <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator:
A veil of grief</i> <i> for the loss of friends
and family</i> <i> compounds the struggle
survivors now face</i> <i> for the basics;</i> <i> food, water, and shelter...</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> And residual radiation</i> <i> will kill for decades.</i> <i> - To have some idea of what's
gonna happen in the future</i> after these cities are ruined,
think of Chernobyl. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> There were cities nearby
that were evacuated.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> Today they're really
overgrown with vegetation</i> <i> and animals are just
roaming freely there.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> That's what it's gonna be</i> across huge swaths
of North America, for example. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator: The world now
settles into a deep gloom</i> <i> as the skies go dark.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i>The bombs started massive fires</i> <i> that sent 50 million tons
of soot into the air.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - What happens is it goes up
into the atmosphere,</i> and it's quickly spread
around the world by the wind. And so the result is almost
no sunlight gets to the ground. <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator:
The soot from the massive</i> <i> nuclear fueled fires
block so much sunlight</i> <i> that it plunges the world</i> <i> into a sudden nuclear winter.</i> <i> ♪ </i> - This is an ice age
with fallout, with radiation. Everything
is going to be damaged in some way or another. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator: Scientists say
a nuclear winter</i> <i> will freeze the Earth
for about two decades.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - The onset of this winter
is shocking.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ This is a long-term, horrible, horrible catastrophe
that would happen in the case of a global
thermonuclear war. <i> ♪ </i> <i> narrator: The sudden cold
destroys world agriculture.</i> <i> The war has already killed
more than 200 million people,</i> <i> and now far more are doomed.</i> - We're talking billions
of people who will die from starvation as a result of this. <i> ♪ </i> <i> - In a scenario
where we have a nuclear war</i> <i> in the Northern Hemisphere--</i> <i> the U.S., Russia, Europe--</i> <i> you're gonna get the biggest
effects of nuclear winter.</i> The Southern Hemisphere
countries will be less affected. <i> ♪</i> ♪ - You can imagine
a country like Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, <i> where you would have
a greater chance of survival</i> <i> after a nuclear war.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> - Let's say humanity survives.</i> <i> Where do we go from there?</i> Would we be able
to keep cultures? Would we be able to keep art? <i> Will we have
learned our lesson?</i> These are huge,
huge questions that it's interesting
to think about, <i> but also terrifying.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator:
Will civilization endure</i> <i> through a nuclear winter,</i> <i> or is mankind condemned</i> <i> to a cold, dark death?</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> man: Ignition.</i> <i> narrator:
What happens if the most</i> <i> powerful nations in the world</i> <i> unleash their nuclear weapons</i> <i> in an all-out war?</i> <i> Would humanity survive?</i> <i> [gentle music]</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> Two decades later,</i> <i> the fiery destruction
of nuclear war</i> <i> has left half the planet
in ruins...</i> <i> [dramatic music]</i> <i> And nearly 90%
of the world's population</i> <i> has died off.</i> <i> In Kansas,
the old Atlas silo</i> <i> that was converted
into a luxury fallout shelter</i> <i> still stands firm...</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> But it's long been abandoned.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i>It was stocked with five years'
worth of food,</i> <i> and 70 people survived
inside</i> <i> for a time.</i> <i> - Could you make a bunker
to ride out a nuclear attack?</i> <i> Sure.</i> <i> Just make the assumption</i> that nobody's
gonna come help you for a very long time,
if ever. Can you do that?
Sure. Can you do that
for the whole country? No. <i> ♪ </i> <i> - Say a handful
of people do make it,</i> <i> and they're in
one of these shelters,</i> <i> and it's time for them
to venture back out</i> <i> onto the surface.</i> They will be entering into
a completely unfamiliar terrain. <i> Everything they knew of
would be gone.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator: The Earth
eventually begins to thaw</i> <i> from its nuclear winter.</i> <i> The winds break up
the global cloud cover,</i> <i> letting sunlight back in,</i> <i> and the planet slowly warms.</i> <i> With the passage of time,</i> <i> the world's decimated
population grows,</i> <i> slowly.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> [gentle music]</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> A century later,</i> <i> the ruins of abandoned cities</i> <i> are overgrown by weeds</i> <i> as nature eventually
reclaims them.</i> <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> There is little rebuilding
in the Northern Hemisphere</i> <i> where the destruction
was the greatest.</i> - Now, the real interesting
question is what will happen with
the rest of the world? Will, maybe, perhaps,
Brazil will rise to power, or South Africa,
or even Australia? <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator:
But a rise to power</i> <i> will be a slow process.</i> <i> A city like Rio de Janeiro</i> <i> may not have been
physically destroyed,</i> <i> but so many people died
from starvation</i> <i> that few people remain
to pick up</i> <i> where civilization left off.</i> <i> [percussive music]</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> Survivors in the warring
countries become refugees,</i> <i> driven to head
for warmer climates.</i> <i> - People will migrate.</i> Knowing that perhaps Brazil
won't be as affected, a lot of people are gonna
move from the States, from the barren states
to Brazil or, maybe, Australia. <i> ♪</i> ♪ -<i>
how refugees operate today.</i> <i> We already see</i> <i> Countries are devastated
by war,</i> <i> and people have to leave
with nothing</i> <i> but the shirts on their back,</i> so they walk huge distances or they get on a boat
and risk their life trying to cross a sea that is very treacherous. But when you have
nothing left to lose, you might as well risk it all. <i> ♪</i> ♪ <i> narrator:
For 5,000 years,</i> <i> empires rose and fell.</i> <i> Only ruins remain of the Maya,</i> <i> ancient Egypt,</i> <i> Greece,</i> <i> and Rome.</i> <i> But while these
civilizations vanished,</i> <i> mankind did not.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> - Nobody really knows
how many people</i> <i>could survive a nuclear winter,</i> <i> but I'm a little bit
of an optimist.</i> <i> I think humans
are incredibly crafty,</i> and we've come a long way since our cave-dwelling
ancestors. We're really smart. We've got a lot of this
knowledge written down. The scientific method allows us to quickly pick up
from where we left off. We now know how to make
progress much faster. <i> We know how not
to fool ourselves.</i> <i> ♪ </i> <i> - Will enough people survive?</i> We're guessing that between
1,000 and 10,000 humans would have enough of a variety that we could kick-start
the human race again. But if they were able to,
you know, hold on and survive, you could have a birth
of a new super-culture, <i> which would be really cool.</i> <i> ♪ </i>
