Re: Return to No Stealth in Space

Crown-Horned Snorkack skreiv:

> 1x solar luminosity is 0,14 watts per square cm. 10x solar luminosity
> is 1,4 watts per square cm.
> 
> Table 4-VI. Consider a 10 MT air burst at the range of 14,5 km. This
> can cause second degree burns on exposed skin by delivering a total of
> 29,3 joules per square cm. Which is equivalent to the ac***ulated
> sunlight of 210 s.

210 seconds of sunlight delivered in how long ? For 10-times-sunlight 
that would be delivered in 21 seconds, but as you yourself say, the 
energy is delivered substantially faster than that.

> 70 % of the thermal energy is delivered over 12 s -
> which means it is about 12 times the luminosity of Sun averaged over
> 12 s.

Yes. And even within those 12 seconds it's unlikely to be a flat curve, 
rather there's going to be a peak at atleast 100 times solar, perhaps
more.

> 2nd degree flash burns over exposed skin are commonly fatal...

True. But you're moving the goalposts.

There's a difference between "commonly fatal" and "will kill everyone". 
The original statement was that "everyone dies" in "less than an hour".

A substantial fraction of humanity is going to be indoor at any given 
moment, some are even going to be sub-terrain or sub-water.

Nobody disputes that increasing the heat-input to a continent to say 10 
times solar over a period of an hour would kill many people, perhaps 
most people.

I don't see any reason to believe it'd kill -everyone- though, not even 
close.

	Eivind Kjørstad