I had no idea there were 2053 nuclear explosions around the world between 1944 and 1998. I had always thought of the two deadly ones in 1945 in Japan. And I knew that the Russians and the Americans were doing their nuclear testing, but I didn’t realize the scale of it. I cannot imagine the environmental devastation and pollution scars that this has brought on our world. I live only five hours from Las Vegas. That spot of desert must be aglow at night for the next five million years.

The Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto has created a time-lapse map of the 2053 nuclear explosions. I watched it all the way through and I am now truly shaken and astonished. This all went on while I was happily growing up, raising a family, and growing older.