OK Lets start basic here.
The smaller a device is the less it damages everything.
Anyone disagree? No? Good

Now fall out is going to happen with any device of this class. How much depends on size. How bad depends on how close to the ground. And what kind of ground.
Anyone that tells you that 10 20KT bombs will kick off a "Nuclear Winter" is completely ignorant of what a Nuclear Winter is let alone what it would take to create one. The bomb that was dropped on the bikini islands had more explosive force then all of these bombs combined. Why did we not have a "Nuclear Winter" then? Get over it! Yes fallout can be dangerous, and yes it would suck to be in the range of ANY fallout. But the end of the world? Heck no. Even if you were in a fallout zone you would have to ride it out say two months tops and then it would be safe to get out of the area. The radiation levels would have subsided to a less then lethal level by then. BTW those numbers are based on crowd pleasers of 20MT not tactical nukes.
It is entirely possible that tactical nukes would not even be noticed on the larger scale of things. Have you ever been to a location where a nuke has gone off? I have. I stood outside and walked all around it. And when I got back my dosimeter registered NOTHING. Now I grant you that it was the first atomic blast ever but less then 60 years later all effects are gone.
To much public education.

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The theory of "Nuclear Winter" was discredited years ago. The original TTAPS study used a simulation so shockingly simplistic (I can briefly post the details if anyone cares) that any increase in realism always resulted in no "Nuclear Winter." Nevertheless, the US government went to great expense to double-check via a series of experiments (which I can also describe if you wish).
By the way, "Nuclear Winter" was supposed to be caused by soot from enormous fires set by detonating nukes, not by dust and/or ash thrown up by said nukes, as some here have mis-remembered. Also, the "Nuclear Winter" theory was created as an argument in favor of nuclear disarmament, not as "evidence of MAD being a viable deterent," as someone posted here.
FYI: with the coming of MIRVs, most warhead yields were reduced to 500 kilotons or less, larger-yield weapons being reserved for "hard" targets such as missile silos. The targets reported hit so far in the TV program do not match any plausible ballistic missile target set, and the only device described so far (with a 20 kiloton yield, equivalent to Hiroshima) was being smuggled into New York City by a few men in a truck, implying that the strikes are the work of small ground teams. Diminishing returns mean that little significant additional damage would result from much larger yields, while such weapons would be much more difficult to conceal and transport, so megaton-plus yields seem implausible when discussing Jericho. Also please note that a single surface burst of even megaton-plus yield would not be enough to destroy any one of most of the cities mentioned as struck in the TV show. And a 20 kiloton burst would not even destroy Manhattan, much less all of NYC.
Finally, the evidence is in on Global Warming. It is real, and humans are (at least in significant part) causing it. The last three studies, released not long ago, ended any real doubts.
I hope you all find these facts useful in enjoying Jericho.

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For one thing, the 50 megaton Tsar bomba was dropped at Novaya Zemlya near the arctic circle, and it was done at 8000+ feet, an airburst over frozen land. Even the soviets knew the possibility of such a bomb tossing up gigantic amounts of fallout, so they did a high altitude airburst in an area where winds wouldn't carry fallout down to populated areas. Even so, the fireball reached the ground and killed a few people. What was in their favor was the 97% efficiency of the weapon which reduced fallout drastically and the lead tamper that cut the yield in half, but also cut the fallout in half too.

The US Military conducted tests that indicated the proper height for an airburst is about 750 feet, which creates a distorted pressure wave that moves large objects and destroys them by dragging them hundreds of feet. It also creates a large mix of fallout. The US has always classified its nuke yield effectiveness in terms of "Rads" rather than blast. They consider the lethality of the bomb in terms of radiation output rather than blast , shock or heat.

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cold war styal nuke winter wood comm about do to thausands of bombs going off in a window of a few hours multipul warheads hiting cities US EUROP GB RUSIA WARSAW BLOC CHINA simultaniusly

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There would be so much debris in the atmosphere that nuclear winter would be almost immediate. Does anybody here remember the movie "The Day After?" That movie was set in Kansas, and it didn't look too well at the end of that, and it was based on as much factual information as was available at the time. There are bombs that can look like and leave the same amount of damage ( non-nuclear hydrogen bomb, or just a really big non-nuclear bomb). Not to say they exist, but the possibility is there.

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I do not see a nuclear winter in Jerico's future as many current theories say that there will not be one. However I do see the very real threat of famine from lack of food and problems with water shortages. With the food drop that Jerico recieved they have a small influx of food but they are not rationing it. I can see an upcomming episode where people who rationed have food but the ones who didn't are starving and start trying to take other peoples food.

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So the article says that putting nuclear waste in the salt water for disposal has been considered. What happens when all those heavy particles are hanging around on the bottom? Would they move with tides, would they move with upheavals of the ocean floor, would they travel along the chasms all over the globe, would they change the underwater lifeforms in ways we could not know for decades, maybe even centuries?

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Every one seems to be up in arms about the size of the bombs. Here is some Physics for you. A 30 KT (Kiloton) bomb, which is larger than the ones that have been mentioned in the show, would have a blast zone about 1 mile in circumfrence. These types of weapons are classified as tatical weapons. They have a very limited distruction zone and the fall-out effect of even a ground burst are minimal when compared to the national inventory of ICBM's. A 20 MT (Megaton) bomb on the other hand has on the order of 600 times the distructive force of a 30 KT bomb. The blast zone for this type of weapon is 8 miles from ground zero. This weapon would have a much larger ammount of fall-out associated with it and of course an increase in magnitude of each of the radioactive isotopes. The KT bombs are on the line of what was exploded in Japan during WWII. Expectations would be a 50% death rate with in 20 miles of the initial blast zone with in 5 years as borne out in real life. The problem that faces the writers in the show is that to cause the ammount of distruction depicted in the show in Denver would require a bomb on the order of a 100MT or larger. These types of weapons are where the real consern for a nuclear winter comes from due to the mass of the debris that is sucked up into the fire ball. This is only a T.V. show people, some things have to just be accepted and move on for the plot to continue, otherwise the writers would need to do many years of research just to make the science of it all work correctly. Enjoy the story line and dont worry about the technical preciseness of the bombs, EMP, etc. It is a very interesting plot and story.

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I have seen several suggestions for "the day after" movie, and while this was good and entertaining, the best nuclear aftermath movie is "Testament". This seemed so realistic, it scared me to death. No bunches of scenes of the actual blast, only a bright light and the realization of what happened. This also takes place in a small town community, and how the people survive, (and those that don't) in the aftermath of nuclear fallout is how I imagine life will be like and how I had hoped Jericho would direct to. Testament is not an uplifting movie, and I think a series like Jericho needs more light hearted and hopeful moments, but I would like to see the town do more than waste fuel and hang out in the bar.

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Remember all that corn they were about to harvest that was infested and they needed Gracie's pesticides? Wasn't that grown without ever removing the top 12 inches of topsoil.

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