This Is What a Chinese Nuclear War Against America Would Look Like (Source The National Interest)

Let’s hope that these are just academic discussions in the Chinese context and do not reflect actual weapons under development. When one reads enough Chinese naval literature, diagrams of multi-axial cruise missile saturation attacks against aircraft carrier groups may begin to seem normal. However, one particular graphic from the October 2015 issue  of the naval journal Naval & Merchant Ships. stands out as both unusual and singularly disturbing. It purports to map the impact of a Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) strike by twenty nuclear-armed rockets against the United States. Targets include the biggest cities on the East and West Coasts, as well as in the Midwest, as one would expect. Giant radiation plumes cover much of the country and the estimate in the caption holds that the strike “would yield perhaps 50 million people killed”. The map below that graphic on the same page illustrates the optimal aim point for a hit on New York City with a “blast wave” that vaporizes all of Manhattan and well beyond.

Rabbits, sharks, whales, and bees — species are threatened with extinction in New England (Source bostonglobe.com) Scientists sounded the alarm on the sad state and frightening future of the natural world in a report saying extinction looms for more than 1 million species of plants and animals worldwide. There are endangered species in our own backyard, here in New England. Biologists at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, maintain a detailed online database of threatened species, known as the “Red List.” So far they’ve only studied a small fraction of the Earth’s 8 million species. But already, they’ve found more than 27,000 species are threatened with extinction out of nearly 100,000 examined in depth. In New England, there are eight “critically-endangered” species, including a type of turtle, two kinds of bees, as well as several trees and other plants. More turtles, including the wood turtle, and bees are on the list of 18 “endangered” species in our region, along with the North Atlantic right whale, a species of mussel, a type of beetle, a type of bat, and two types of fish called skates, which resemble stingrays. Another 33 species that can be found in New England are considered “vulnerable,” including types of sharks, the New England cottontail rabbit, the American horseshoe crab, and a species of seahorse. And then there are 37 more species in our region that are considered “near threatened” — more sharks, skates, fish, turtles, bats, plants, fungi, mussels, and a type of snail.