>>Dinneyland is the outsider name for the Navajo nation 403 error for link <<
Fixed, thanks.
>> Regarding chemical weapons, there's a good bit in Red Storm Rising regarding the persistence of chemical agents. One of the big problems is that while sunlight can break them down, they'll be spread over surfaces where sunlight can't get at them. Stuff like the undersides of fence rails. Or the insides of buildings.<<
Chemical weapons are typically designed to last 20 years in storage, which means the unexploded samples will be dangerous at least that long, possibly more. Lifespan after deployment depends on many factors including the chemical structure and format of the weapon itself along with environmental factors (e.g. sun, wind, water) in the field. Volatile compounds disperse and/or break down very fast, within minutes or hours; whereas more stable ones may last for days or weeks, occasionally longer under certain conditions. Very persistent chemicals can last for months or years, some of them being highly resistant to factors like sunlight which degrade other materials.
The cities remain dangerous for years, because even after the Grunge in protected areas finally decays, the risk of unexploded ordnance remains to refresh it -- and even decayed chemical weapons tend to consist of noxious materials. Plus all the other stuff that got released in the End or later due to lack of human supervision. :/
People still risk it, and there was a trickle of trade in salvaged items very early on. The problem is that the Grunge and other contaminants cling to objects. So that worked against trade, as people quickly learned to be wary of items with unknown provenance. Loot scavenged from smaller towns that weren't bombed was perfectly safe, but there's no easy way to tell that apart from stuff scavenged out of bombed cities -- other than putting it next to a large animal. (Well, that's one use for all the Holsteins that have poor survival prospects After...) And the best stuff was in the cities.
Yes ...
403 error for link <<
Fixed, thanks.
>> Regarding chemical weapons, there's a good bit in Red Storm Rising regarding the persistence of chemical agents. One of the big problems is that while sunlight can break them down, they'll be spread over surfaces where sunlight can't get at them. Stuff like the undersides of fence rails. Or the insides of buildings.<<
That is exactly what happened here.
Chemical weapons are typically designed to last 20 years in storage, which means the unexploded samples will be dangerous at least that long, possibly more. Lifespan after deployment depends on many factors including the chemical structure and format of the weapon itself along with environmental factors (e.g. sun, wind, water) in the field. Volatile compounds disperse and/or break down very fast, within minutes or hours; whereas more stable ones may last for days or weeks, occasionally longer under certain conditions. Very persistent chemicals can last for months or years, some of them being highly resistant to factors like sunlight which degrade other materials.
The cities remain dangerous for years, because even after the Grunge in protected areas finally decays, the risk of unexploded ordnance remains to refresh it -- and even decayed chemical weapons tend to consist of noxious materials. Plus all the other stuff that got released in the End or later due to lack of human supervision. :/
People still risk it, and there was a trickle of trade in salvaged items very early on. The problem is that the Grunge and other contaminants cling to objects. So that worked against trade, as people quickly learned to be wary of items with unknown provenance. Loot scavenged from smaller towns that weren't bombed was perfectly safe, but there's no easy way to tell that apart from stuff scavenged out of bombed cities -- other than putting it next to a large animal. (Well, that's one use for all the Holsteins that have poor survival prospects After...) And the best stuff was in the cities.