Expert offers nuclear war survival tips for Gen Z flat sharers and city dwellers

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Expert offers nuclear war survival tips for Gen Z flat sharers and city dwellers
Expert offers nuclear war survival tips for Gen Z flat sharers and city dwellers

An expert has detailed some of the best options for young people living in cities if there was to be a World War Three, as Brits are urged to ’learn resilience’ amid the looming threat of war

With the rising tensions escalating in the West and a looming fear of World War Three, Gen Z are being urged to prepare for the worst - but what does it mean for those living in bigger cities?

As Vladimir Putin’s top crony has issued a shock World War Three warning claiming the next global conflict has already begun, it’s crucial that people know what to do if diaster strikes.

Professor John Strawson from the Department of Law, Policing and Justice and University of East London has given his verdict on what to do for city dwellers who may be fearful living in a big city and urged Gen Z to be "resilient". However the expert said living in London may actually be the safest place to live after learnings from the Cold War in 1947.

While Gen Z are "tech savvy", Professor Strawson said young people will have to "learn resilience to cope the new world disorder". He explained: "They [Gen Z] are tech savvy and at least will be able to research how to survive," and said his main advice would be to "stay in the big cities" especially London.

He explained: "The reason that capital cities seem safe is that each side will want someone to negotiate with at some point - and having a government is central to that. Having said that we do need more education and better preparation so that citizens can understand the dangers so that they can deal with what risks they can. We do need central government to take nuclear war more seriously, stop cutting defense spending and start building shelters for the public."

As the threat of a nuclear war grows, if anything was learnt from the Cold War, Nato and the Soviet led Warsaw pact had developed verious "game plans" for nuclear exchanges. The professor said the good news for people living in London or Moscow is that they weren’t in the "initial firing line". 

Russia has been joined by Noth Korean troops in the attack on Ukraine while at the sometime the US and the Europeans have given the green light for the Ukrainians to use weapons they have supplied to attack Russian territory. The expert highlighted that those together with the "instability in the Middle East" and the continued Iranian nuclear program and Chinese Sabre "rattling against Taiwan" all combine to make the situation more acute.

"Indeed, being in capital city seems to be the safest place to be as both sides prioritised ’low value’ targets, such as Edinburgh in the UK and St Petersburg in Russia," Professor Strawson explained. He said in his opinion, Scotland would be more of a likely "major target given the nuclear submarine force of the UK operates from the Clyde" and said: "The lesson seems to be, do not move to Scotland!"

Since the Cold War, Professor Strawson said that top government officials have a well-equipped underground shelter, but now few local authorities have such facilities and there are no bomb shelters for the public. "Preparations for nuclear war have wound down since the end of the Cold War. There is not much individuals can do except stock up on tunned food and medicines, including iodine pills which may help with coping with fallout from a nuclear explosion.

For those living in flats, the best places to shelter include underground spaces. "One would be much safer if they could get to an underground purpose-built blast or fallout shelter," Jack L. Rozdilsky, an associate professor of disaster and emergency management at York University in Canada, told Newsweek. "Even locations like basements of buildings or deep sections of subway tunnels would provide better protection than being in buildings above the surface."

"However, don’t forget, thank goodness we have not had any experience of nuclear warfare since August 1945 and the current warheads are many times more powerful than 80 years ago. The threat of nuclear war grows as thew world becomes more febrile."

Emma Davis

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