People fear what they don't understand, and a large part of the fear involved with nuclear weapons is that they are a mysterious topic to the average American.

Nuclear weaponry? Isn't that something from The Cold War? Why do we have to worry about that now? Hollywood, Carl Sagan, and others have most certainly done their part to popularize a number of nuclear weaponry myths. But that's what I'd like to take a look at today.

What are the most popular myths out there involving nuclear war? Perhaps, if we can help to dispel some of these, we can help people to realize that A) nuclear war is survivable, B) there are action steps we can take to protect ourselves, and C) in the event of a nuclear strike, we won't find ourselves absolutely clueless.

Let's look at one of the most common:

Myth – A nuclear exchange will result in a nuclear winter where the sky will darken and temperatures will plummet. 

This theory began in 1982 when German environmentalist Paul Crutzen conceived the idea and gained a lot of momentum as time went on, largely thanks to Carl Sagan. Interestingly enough, throughout The Cold War, there was a massive push by the Soviets to change the common American's perception of a wide range of issues. Disarmament was one of these issues Soviets discretely tried (and succeeded) in impact within the United States. (Read page 82 of John Stormer's None Dare Call It Treason.)