I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. – Albert Einstein

The machinery of war and the available firepower has increased dramatically. The risks of a third World war are enormous.

If we add in all the means and methods of warfare − conventional, nuclear, cyber, drones, and so on − we have the military potential to destroy ourselves entirely.

Nuclear war is coming. It is only a matter of when.

Given the growing tension between various nuclear powers, it’s no surprise that the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists decided to move up their ‘Doomsday clock’ at the start of 2018.

It now sits at just two minutes before midnight.

The last time it was so close to midnight was in 1953, when both the US and Russia developed and tested the hydrogen bomb during the early years of the Cold War.

In other words, the World’s vulnerability to nuclear disaster is alarmingly high.

There are literally thousands of nuclear warheads around the world right now. The US and Russia alone maintain a combined 1,800 nuclear weapons on high-alert status, which can be launched within minutes.

Nuclear-equipped missiles are primarily aimed at major cities with military bases, important industries and large airports.

It is not unlikely that this includes the very city where you are.

Have you ever thought about the nuclear weapon pointed your way? It is not as tangible as a stranger holding a gun to your forehead, but the threat is equally real and life threatening.

You need to think more about this and the danger it presents.

A nuclear bomb would bring both instant and prolonged devastation. Men, women, children: the impact of a nuclear bomb does not discriminate among its victims.

Those in the immediate vicinity will be vaporized instantly or exposed to radiation that will kill them in a few weeks or less.

Further from the blast zone, victims will experience extreme burns as even their clothes catch fire.

Beyond the immediate destruction, long term effects can be even more destructive.

If a series of nuclear weapons are detonated, the resulting smoke would enter the atmosphere, spread across the globe and initiate a nuclear winter.

The sun’s light would be obscured, temperatures would plummet, plants would die off, and massive famine would sweep across the World.