Bobby Akart - Desolation

There would likely be a deterioration of the quality of the soil following a nuclear war. The death of plant and forest coverage because of fire, radiation, the lack of fertilizers, and the probable primitive slash-and-burn agricultural practices of survivors would leave the soil vulnerable to erosion by wind and rain.

Water supplies would be seriously reduced after a nuclear war, especially if there is a corresponding collapse of the electrical grid. Dams and large irrigation projects may cease to function. Reduced rainfall, which is predicted in some models of the climatic effects of a nuclear war, would interfere with agricultural productivity. If freezing temperatures actually were to occur during the warm season, surface waters would be frozen and unavailable.

Radioactive fallout would contaminate reservoirs and surface waters with long-lived radioactive isotopes, primarily strontium-90, which has a half-life of twenty-eight years, and cesium-137, which has a half-life of thirty-three years. These elements in the groundwater would soon be taken up by plants and would enter the food chain. Eventually they would become concentrated in humans; the strontium would accumulate in bones and the cesium in cytoplasm, where they would contribute to the long-term burden of radioactivity in survivors.

Not only would food be scarce, but it would likely be unsanitary as well. The destruction of sanitation, refrigeration, and food-processing methods, especially in the remaining urban areas or population centers, would result in the contamination of food by bacteria, particularly by enteric pathogens. Spoiled meat, carrion of domestic animals and even human corpses are likely to be eaten by starving persons, as has happened in major famines in the past. Pathogens to which civilized man has lost resistance would be acquired from foods and water contaminated by excreta and flies, other insects, and rodents, which would likely proliferate in the aftermath of nuclear war.

But the hunger and starvation would not be limited to the combatant countries alone, or even to just the Northern Hemisphere. It would truly be a global occurrence. Even without the spread of the possible climatic effects of a nuclear winter to the Southern Hemisphere, millions would die of starvation in noncombatant countries. Today a large portion of food exports goes to parts of the world where millions of people suffer from undernutrition and hunger.

It is evident that hunger and starvation would decimate the survivors of a major nuclear war. Millions of deaths would result not only among survivors in the warring nations but throughout the world. The developing countries, in fact, would possibly be the main victims of this famine, as their populations may not be reduced as immediately as would those in the combatant countries. Starvation would be essentially global.

My initial research into this topic began with a book written in the early eighties by Paul Ehrlich and Carl Sagan titled The Cold and The Dark: The World after Nuclear War . This book was a record of a conference held in 1983 during which the scientists introduced the world to the concept of nuclear winter. For the first time, world leaders took note of the climatic and atmospheric consequences of nuclear winter as well as the profound effect it would have on all living things on Earth.

Forty years later, their warnings have been acknowledged, but one has to ask, have we done all we can to avoid a nuclear holocaust?

Perfect Storm (a standalone disaster thriller)

Black Gold

Black Swan

Black Flags

First Strike

Armageddon

Whiteout

Devil Storm

Desolation

New Madrid Earthquake (a standalone disaster thriller)

Odessa Reborn

Odessa Rising

Odessa Strikes

Virus Hunters I

Virus Hunters II

Virus Hunters III

The Shift

The Pulse

The Collapse

The Flood

The Tempest

The Pioneers

Discovery

Diversion

Destruction

Apocalypse

Haven

Anarchy

Minutemen

Civil War

Hellfire

Inferno

Fallout

Survival

Axis of Evil

Beyond Borders

Lines in the Sand

Texas Strong

Fifth Column

Suicide Six

Beginnings

The Innocents

Level 6

Quietus

36 Hours

Zero Hour

Turning Point

Shiloh Ranch

Hornet’s Nest

Devil’s Homecoming

The Loyal Nine

Cyber Attack

Martial Law

False Flag

The Mechanics

Choose Freedom

Patriot’s Farewell (standalone novel)

Seeds of Liberty (Companion Guide)

Cyber Warfare

EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse

Economic Collapse

Author Bobby Akart has been ranked by Amazon as #25 on the Amazon Charts list of most popular, bestselling authors. He has achieved recognition as the #1 bestselling Horror Author, #1 bestselling Science Fiction Author, #5 bestselling Action & Adventure Author, #7 bestselling Historical Fiction Author and #10 on Amazon’s bestselling Thriller Author list.

Mr. Akart has delivered up-all-night thrillers to readers in 245 countries and territories worldwide. He has sold over one million books in all formats, which includes over forty international bestsellers, in nearly fifty fiction and nonfiction genres.

His novel Yellowstone: Hellfire reached the Top 25 on the Amazon bestsellers list and earned him multiple Kindle All-Star awards for most pages read in a month and most pages read as an author. The Yellowstone series vaulted him to the #25 bestselling author on Amazon Charts, and the #1 bestselling science fiction author.

Since its release in November 2020, his standalone novel New Madrid Earthquake has been ranked #1 on Amazon Charts in multiple countries as a natural disaster thriller.

Mr. Akart is a graduate of the University of Tennessee after pursuing a dual major in economics and political science. He went on to obtain his master’s degree in business administration and his doctorate degree in law at Tennessee.

A million-copy bestseller, Bobby Akart has provided his readers a diverse range of topics that are both informative and entertaining. His attention to detail and impeccable research have allowed him to capture the imagination of his readers through his fictional works and bring them valuable knowledge through his nonfiction books.