I’m not worried about nuclear war.
That’s not in a Dr. Strangelove sense of the word. It’s just that we live hundreds of kilometres from the nearest viable target if the bombs do fly.
I mean, seriously. If there were a nuclear war, what are the chances that someone would want to target Tumbler? That’s almost ridiculous.
According to the booklet, “Survival in Likely Target Areas”, part of the Blueprint for Survival Series published in 1962, “If Canada were to be deliberately attacked, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton, London, Montreal, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Quebec City, St. John’s, Nfld., Saint John, NB, Toronto, Windsor, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Victoria and the areas immediately surrounding them could be considered as the more likely target areas.”
Of those, Edmonton is the closest area, and that’s 800 km away.
The largest bomb ever tested, the Tsar Bomba (roughly translated as Bomb Caesar, if my Russian is any good), which was tested the year before the aforementioned booklet was published, was basically 1570 times more powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, combined, and 50 times more powerful than all the bombs dropped in the whole of World War II.
The nuclear mushroom cloud was 40 km wide at its base and towered nearly 100 km high. Windows in Norway and Finland shattered after the bomb was set off. This was a big bomb.
The explosion destroyed everything within about a 60 km radius. Literally, everything. If the bomb were dropped on the West Edmonton Mall, that would basically destroy everything out past Alberta Beach, which is a remarkably large blast region, but still well shy of reaching Tumbler Ridge.
But that’s just the parts that were vapourized. The explosion mostly leveled an area of about 260 km, which would extend east to Lloydminster, south nearly to Calgary and Northwest to Little Smokey, which is a phenomenally large area, but still well shy of Grande Prairie, let alone Tumbler Ridge.
Of course, if they dropped such a bomb on Grande Prairie (138 km) or Prince George (172 km), we would be in trouble, but there’s the mountains, which would deflect some of the explosion, and the fact is, nobody’s going to drop such a mega-bomb on such a small city. And a five megaton bomb? I mean, if you were 30 km away, you’d get the equivalent of a sunburn from the heat and light given off by the bomb, and we’re much farther away than that. Even if it were a 20 megaton bomb, the affected area would only be about 60 km, so we’re basically fine.
According to our booklet, the second issue from a theoretical five megaton explosion is the radiation. “Intense radiation,” says the booklet, “is given off for about one minute. Most people within two miles [3.2 km] of the explosion who survived the blast and fire would die from this immediate radiation unless they had adequate protection against it.”
Finally, after the light, heat and radiation, a powerful blast wave moves out in all directions from the centre of the explosion. “Unlike the blast pressure from conventional explosions which lasts for a fraction of a second, the blast pressure from an H-bomb lasts for several seconds. This sustained pressure crushes buildings or bursts into and causes them to explode.
“It destroys everything within three miles [5 km] of the explosion and causes varying degrees of damage out to 15 miles [24 km]. Unprotected persons within the area of blast damage could be killed or injured by the blast pressure; by pieces of wood, brick, glass and objects hurled through the air at very high speeds; or by being flung bodily against objects.”
Again, assuming that it’s Prince George getting nuked, we’re still good.
Other potential targets include military bases. The closest military base is CFB Edmonton, home to the Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry. So, no difference there than with our first example.
Another possible target are power generation facilities. Even if they decided to nuke the dams up by Hudson’s Hope? We’re still outside the range of any effects from the heat and light, radiation or blast wave from any nuclear explosion set off.
But, of course, there are wind towers in the Tumbler Ridge region, but I don’t see these as high-value targets, though I am not a military strategist, so could be wrong.
So basically, we’d be fine in the event of a thermonuclear war.
Just like we’re fine in the face of global warming. Indeed, this week, a group called “Kicking the International Council out of Local Environmental Initiatives” made a presentation to council arguing that global warming would be a good thing for the Peace Region, bringing about “Longer growing seasons (projected to rise by 37%), increasing food and forage production, lower heating costs in winter, reducing energy poverty, more usable land for agriculture, forestry, housing, and economic development, expanding biodiversity and shifting habitats, improving ecological resilience and improved agricultural viability as conditions shift toward those seen in BC’s interior valleys.”
I mean, what’s wrong with that, amiright?
And heating your home with wood and diesel helps protect vulnerable populations like seniors.
And finally, the Peace Region? Is a carbon sink, not a carbon emitter.
I mean, sure, it’s called “global warming,” but that doesn’t include us. Things that affect the rest of the world have no bearing on what happens here in Tumbler Ridge.
So let the rest of the world burn because of climate change or global warming or nuclear war or whatever else comes. Here in Tumbler Ridge we’re fine, we’re fine, we’re totally fine.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
