Well folks, we’re up to the end of the Heisei era, and what a time to get there. 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destoroyah was billed as the death of Godzilla, putting an endcap on the iconic series. Everyone involved (and any comics fans) knew that this would likely not be the case, but they were closing up shop and filming the final chapter of the current run. In a series of poetic homages to the original Godzilla, Destoroyah revives the core themes that have made the franchise so impactful and successful to this day. Godzilla is dying, after having taken on a massive amount of radiation, and is approaching meltdown. The existential threat looms large: the clock is ticking, and if we don’t do something, it could mean the end of life on planet Earth. A timely lesson, considering the events of the past week (as of writing this, March 3 2022). With Vladimir Putin straight up invading the sovereign nation of Ukraine, the rest of the world is faced with some of the most difficult global security decisions since WW2. Any direct intervention could push Putin into launching a nuclear first strike, as he’s threatened to do, which is limiting the United States and Europe to offering financial, medical, and military supply aid rather than committing troops. While it’s extremely unlikely that this could happen, do you want to call that bluff? Only time will tell, as events are still unfolding. To make matters worse, everyone considers themselves to be an armchair expert on every current topic thanks to the internet, which leads to a bunch of dweebs on Twitter saying a nuclear war wouldn’t “actually be that bad.” I’m not claiming to be an expert, but can lay out a few points as far as I understand them. The folks saying this are making a pile of assumptions: one is that there was a study on recent wildfires showing that ash was rising far higher into the atmosphere than was previously modeled, indicating the dangers of a nuclear winter could be worse than originally expected. However, another study indicated that this was probably not the case, so the science is undecided there. The next is that targeting and delivery systems have become far more advanced allowing for more “precision” to annihilate a target. In the height of the cold war, it was assumed that many warheads would be aimed at a single target, and it’s more likely that only a few would be need in the modern age, reducing the total amount fired, and therefore limiting the dangers of a nuclear winter. This seems to be a uhhh, very generous assumption given that defense systems have also become more advanced. Not something I’d like to gamble on. It also ignores some key concepts of nuclear war. While the nuclear winter may be more localized and not immediately plunge the world into a life-ending apocalyptic disaster, the massive swaths of land that would be effected would destroy food production effecting billions. The radioactive fallout would drift and corrupt everything in the surrounding area, civilization and wildlife alike. Even if you were outside the blast zone, there’s a sizable radiation zone where you would need immediate medical attention – and not be able to get it. Infrastructure would collapse, and first responders would not be able to risk exposure leaving millions to die slow agonizing deaths over the coming days and weeks. Being more connected by digital technology than ever before means communications systems going down, including banking systems, would plunge entire economies into chaos. Does this mean you should you keep a large stack of cash under a mattress? Probably not, even with heightened tensions, the threat of a house fire is still far more likely. Last but not least: the immense human cost. Yes, humanity itself may be likely to survive a “small” nuclear war, but initiating it, or even retaliating with nuclear weapons, would turn you into the biggest mass murderers in modern history in the blink of an eye. Not just those effected in the blasts and immediate aftermath, but the cancers and sickness that would effect surrounding regions and waterways for decades. We see the effects rippling throughout generations in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. The farther we get from the living memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the more you see people downplaying these risks, or bringing up old justifications, and that’s a depressing and terrifying thought.