Fears about nuclear war tend to surge whenever geopolitical tensions intensify, and in moments of heightened conflict people often begin asking the most fundamental question of all: if the unthinkable happened, where on Earth could anyone survive? Recent debates have reignited around comments made by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Annie Jacobsen, particularly in connection with her book Nuclear War: A Scenario. Drawing on interviews with military officials, weapons experts, and climate scientists, she describes a chain reaction that could unfold in a matter of minutes if a large-scale nuclear exchange began between major powers. According to the scenario she outlines, the initial detonations would trigger immediate casualties in the hundreds of millions, followed by retaliatory strikes that would multiply devastation across continents.

Within roughly an hour and a half, she suggests, billions could be dead from blast effects, firestorms, collapsing infrastructure, and radiation exposure. Yet the horror would not stop with the explosions themselves. The more enduring catastrophe would stem from environmental consequences—particularly the massive quantities of soot and smoke lofted into the upper atmosphere from burning cities and industrial zones. This debris could block sunlight on a global scale, sharply lowering temperatures and destabilizing weather patterns. In that chilling vision of events, survival would depend less on dodging the first missiles and more on enduring the dark, frigid aftermath that follows.