Expert reveals the only two places that would be safe in a nuclear war

Daily Mail​

25-06-2025

An expert has revealed the one region of the world where you may be able to survive a nuclear war.
Investigative journalist Annie Jacobsen explained why Americans looking to avoid the consequences of a potential World War III should considering escaping to Australia or New Zealand.
On The Diary Of A CEO podcast, Jacobsen said that neighboring countries in the Southern Hemisphere would be the only place that could 'sustain agriculture' following a nuclear catastrophe in the northern portion of the world.
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As the conflict in the Middle East drags on, fears of Iranian sleeper cells in the U.S. have Americans becoming increasingly worried that a weapon of mass destruction could go off at any minute.
Nuclear powers Russia and China, allies of Iran, have already warned that the U.S. involving itself in the Middle East conflict could send the entire world spiraling into an all-out war leading to Armageddon.
Jacobsen discussed the chilling consequences of a nuclear war while speaking with podcast host Steven Bartlett.
She said: 'Places like Iowa and Ukraine would be just snow for 10 years. So agriculture would fail and when agriculture fails, people just die.'
Jacobsen continued: 'On top of that, you have the radiation poisoning because the ozone layer will be so damaged and destroyed that you can't be outside in the sunlight.
'People will be forced to live underground. So you have to imagine people living underground, fighting for food everywhere except for in New Zealand and Australia.'
Before the crisis in the Middle East had escalated, Jacobsen had released a book, Nuclear War: A Scenario, which laid out in shocking detail how the end of the world would play out if World War III were to kick off.
Speaking to Bartlett, Jacobsen said: 'Hundreds of millions of people die in the fireballs, no question.'
However she added that a 2022 study by Professor Owen Toon in Nature Food claimed that the death toll would quickly consume the majority of the world's population.
The expert said: 'Professor Toon and his team... sort of updated [the] nuclear winter idea based around food, and the number that they have is five billion people would be dead.'
Nuclear winter describes the severe, long-lasting global cooling that could happen after a large-scale nuclear war.
In a full-scale war, where many cities are hit by nuclear bombs, those explosions would cause huge fires, burning buildings, forests, and other structures.
The smoke and soot from these fires would rise high into the sky and into a part of the atmosphere called the stratosphere, where it can stay for years as rain can't wash it away.
This thick layer of soot would block sunlight from reaching the Earth's surface, like a giant shade over the planet.
With less sunlight, the Earth would get much colder. The experts Jacobsen spoke to in her book predicted that temperatures in the U.S. would plunge by roughly 40 degrees Fahrenheit, making farming impossible.
The cold and darkness would lead to huge food shortages and eventually starvation. Animals and fish would also struggle to survive, making food even scarcer.
Bartlett weighed in and said: 'The population of the planet currently is what, eight billion?
'So there'd be three billion people still alive. Where shall I go to be one of the three billion? I was just in New Zealand and Australia.'
Jacobsen replied: 'That's exactly where you'd go. According to Toon, those are the only places that could actually sustain agriculture.'
Along with both nations being capable of producing food once the dust settles on a nuclear war, Australia and New Zealand have several other factors which make this part of the world safer from global destruction.
They are far from the major nuclear powers which would likely spark a world war, the U.S., Russia, and China.
Also, being island nations, their isolation in the Pacific and Southern Oceans limits fallout from nuclear detonations up north.
This is because prevailing winds and ocean currents would carry much of the radioactive material away from these regions.
The renewed threat of a global nuclear war has sparked a nationwide search to locate America's long-forgotten fallout shelters.
Although they're not built to withstand the initial blast, extreme heat, and shockwaves of a nuclear explosion, they can act as a safe room for anyone who lives through the explosion to see the aftermath.
As for what makes a good fallout shelter, shielding is the most important factor. Thick walls and a roof made of concrete or steel are necessary to block out the radiation produced by a nuclear explosion.
Fallout shelters also need good ventilation with proper filters to trap radioactive particles in the air.
Those inside will need enough food and clean water to last for weeks or months while waiting for the radiation to clear from the air, an area for waste disposal so clean supplies are not contaminated, and a comfortable place to sit or sleep.