When asked how World War III would be fought, Einstein replied that he didn't know. But he knew how World War IV would be fought: With sticks and stones! On the same line Winston Churchill Said that Stone Age may return on science's shining wings. So let's us get along and look at the best means that we will have to survive the approaching new age.We will get right to the point, more technical material will be added in an appendix for those who wish to deepen the topic beyond the strict necessary.

NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS

Everyone knows what an explosion is, and apart from strictly conventional descriptions, now, by the approaching end of the year 2007, lexicographers might be tempted to describe a conventional explosion as: "A fanatic walking with a specially adapted belt who detonates it among innocent people." Insofar as nuclear explosions are concerned, apart from the immensely more destructive power as compared to conventional explosions, other physical phenomena take place within a more or less delayed timeframe and on a different spatial magnitude scale, phenomena which need special consideration due to their prompt and delayed effects in the environment and on biological life. Manifold physical manifestations follow a nuclear explosion:

Fireball - The luminous sphere of hot gases which forms a few millionths of a second after a nuclear [1] explosion.
Thermal Energy - The energy emitted from the fireball (or other heated region) as thermal radiation.
Nuclear Radiation (or Ionizing Radiation) - Particulate and electromagnetic radiation emitted from atomic nuclei in various nuclear processes. The important nuclear radiation, from the weapons standpoint, are alpha and beta particles, gamma rays, and neutrons.
Blast wave - A pulse of air in which the pressure increases sharply at the front, accompanied by winds, propagated from an explosion.
Shock wave - A continuously propagated pressure pulse (or wave) in the surrounding medium which may be air, water, or earth, initiated by the expansion of the hot gases produced in an explosion. A shock wave in air is generally referred to as blast wave, because it resembles and is accompanied by strong, but transient, winds.
Fallout - The process or phenomenon of the descent to the earth's surface of particles contaminated with radioactive material from the radioactive cloud. The term is also applied in a collective sense to the contaminated particular matter itself. The early (or local) fallout is defined, somewhat arbitrarily, as those particles which reach the earth within 24 hours after a nuclear explosion. The delayed (or worldwide) fallout consists of the smaller particles which ascend into the upper troposphere and into the stratosphere and are carried by winds to all parts of the earth. The delayed fallout is brought to earth, mainly by rain and snow, over extended periods ranging from months to years.
EMP - A sharp pulse of radio frequency (long wavelength) electromagnetic radiation produced when an explosion occurs in an asymmetrical environment, especially at or near the earth's surface or at high altitudes. The intense electric and magnetic fields can damage unprotected electrical and electronic equipment over a large area.
TREE - Transient-radiation effects on electronics.
Popcorn Effect - Refers to burns caused on the epidermis by small overheated particles.