Cold War arsenals could destroy all civilization thousands of times over
Evidence
New and better rockets replaced older rockets; single warhead missiles were replaced by multiple independent reentry vehicles (MIRVs), with three or more separate, independently targetable warheads per rocket; guidance systems began to incorporate terrain-matching positioning systems, improving accuracy; and both countries developed extensive electronics and radar detection systems for monitoring the missiles of the other side, poised and ready to detect launches seconds after they took place. By the 1980s each side had more than ten thousand warheads, and the warheads themselves had expanded in killing power from kilotons to megatons—all while fitting into smaller and smaller packages, enabling them to be mounted on a larger variety of delivery platforms. Weapons of this arms race could now exterminate civilization on a planetary scale; in principle, they could do this many thousands of times over. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 569 (
#corroborates, via linked claim)
But the Soviets, meanwhile, were building a new weapon of their own—an automated launch system that could fire retaliatory missiles even after the command center was destroyed. The “dead hand,” as it was called, was a satellite-based network of sensors that, once activated, could automatically fire Soviet ICBMs to previously targeted coordinates without a human having to push a button. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 572 (
#expands, via linked claim)
The sad fact is the Cold War arms race left us with weapons unlike any that have ever existed, placing us in uncharted and dangerous territory. Modern nuclear and biological weapons are unfathomably destructive. It’s tough to imagine the sudden death of billions of people. What would that postapocalyptic planet look like? Climate, crops, forests, food—all would be irrevocably altered in ways catastrophic to humankind. Biodiversity: gutted; ecosystems: shattered; basically, every aspect of life as we know it, including all the people we know and care for, as well as all the others we’ve never heard of, would be ashes and dust. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 596 (
#qualifies, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Cold War arsenals grew to planetary overkill capacity — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 569; Modern nuclear and biological weapons are destructively unprecedented in history — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 596; Cold War adversaries developed automated retaliation systems that removed humans from the kill decision — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 572
Related
- Cold War arsenals grew to planetary overkill capacity (similarity 0.92)
- Modern nuclear and biological weapons are destructively unprecedented in history (similarity 0.87)
- Cold War adversaries developed automated retaliation systems that removed humans from the kill decision (similarity 0.83)
- Human WMDs exceed any animal weapon in destructive capacity (similarity 0.80)
- Proliferating nuclear weapons increase the risk of accidental world-ending war (similarity 0.79)
- Military stockpiled over a billion aging cluster submunitions. (similarity 0.79)
- Cold War weapons costs multiplied simultaneously across every system category (similarity 0.79)
- A single technological leap can render an entire opposing arsenal obsolete (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Cold War arsenals grew to planetary overkill capacity
#corroborates(0.95) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 569 - Cold War adversaries developed automated retaliation systems that removed humans from the kill decision
#expands(0.40) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 572 - Modern nuclear and biological weapons are destructively unprecedented in history
#qualifies(0.35) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 596