What were the chances that the first nuclear blast would set the entire Earth on fire? More science: http://nerdist.com/topic/science-tech/ Watch more Because Science: http://nerdi.st/BecSci Follow Kyle Hill: https://twitter.com/Sci_Phile Follow us on FB: https://www.facebook.com/BecauseScience Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/becausescience Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becausescience Follow Nerdist: https://twitter.com/Nerdist Because Science every Thursday. Learn More: Reference paper: http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph241/chung1/docs/00329010.pdf Factor of safety: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factor_of_safety The weight of a butterfly: https://thebulletin.org/2015/02/the-weight-of-a-butterfly/ Nuclear war as a global catastrophic risk: https://regulatorystudies.columbian.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs1866/f/downloads/GW%20Reg%20Studies%20-%20Nuclear%20War%20as%20a%20Global%20Catastrophic%20Risk%20-%20JScouras.pdf Inverse Compton scattering: http://venables.asu.edu/quant/proj/compton.html The impossibility of atmospheric fire: http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph241/chung1/ Bethe, Teller, Trinity, and the End of Earth: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/bethe-teller-trinity-and-the-end-of-earth/ Radiative processes in plasmas: https://www.lehigh.edu/~eus204/teaching/ME362/lectures/lecture05.pdf Bremsstrahlung main losses: http://www.ira.inaf.it/~ddallaca/P-Rad_2.pdf