What If a NUCLEAR WAR Started Right Now? (Minute by Minute)

A president would have six minutes to decide. Here's what happens next, minute by minute. 15 km from the blast, you'd see the flash, then hear nothing for 40 seconds before the blast wave hits. But the bombs aren't the deadliest part. The year after is: smoke blocks the sun, summers turn cold, and one study estimates more than 5 billion people could starve. Plus the four times it almost happened for real (1962, 1979, 1983, 1995), and why the Doomsday Clock has never been closer to midnight. If you remember one thing: get inside, go deep, stay there for at least a day. Chapters 0:00 What if it started right now? 0:39 Minute 0: the warning 1:24 Minute 1: it has happened before 2:15 Minute 3: the decision 3:12 Minute 10: launch 4:08 Minute 30: one bomb 5:41 Hour 1: the whole war 6:42 Day 1: fallout 7:29 Week 1: collapse 7:57 Year 1: nuclear winter 8:52 Year 10: a different world 9:23 26 September 1983 10:25 The Doomsday Clock, explained Sources SIPRI Yearbook 2025, World nuclear forces OTA, The Effects of Nuclear War (1979) Glasstone & Dolan, The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (1977); NUKEMAP (A. Wellerstein) UK Parliament, Hansard written answer, 25 Feb 1981 (crater size) Princeton Science & Global Security, "Plan A" (2019) Xia et al., Nature Food 3 (2022); Robock et al., JGR (2007) Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Doomsday Clock 2026 FAS, Status of World Nuclear Forces Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Doomsday Clock timeline (1947: 7 min; 1991: 17 min) R. Reagan, An American Life (1990), quoted via M. Dobbs, The Six Minute War All animation is illustration; cities, people and screens are fictional. Case 01 of Thought Dossier. Which case should we open next? Tell us in the comments. #whatif #nuclearwar #history