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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStudy: ‘Small’ Nuclear War Would Destroy The World
DENVER (CBS4) With an estimated 17,000 nuclear weapons in the world, we have the power to exterminate humanity many times over.
But it wouldnt take a full-scale nuclear war to make Earth uninhabitable, reports Live Science.
Even a relatively small regional nuclear war, like a conflict between India and Pakistan, could spark a global environmental catastrophe, says a new study.
Most people would be surprised to know that even a very small regional nuclear war on the other side of the planet could disrupt global climate for at least a decade and wipe out the ozone layer for a decade, said lead author Michael Mills, an atmospheric scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado.
Researchers developed a computer model of the Earths atmosphere and ran simulations to find out what would happen if there was a nuclear war with just a fraction of the worlds arsenal.
more...
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/03/26/study-small-nuclear-war-would-destroy-the-world/
jwirr
(39,215 posts)eruption of a volcano which interrupted the global climate for at least several years.
ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)The eruption caused global climate anomalies that included the phenomenon known as "volcanic winter": 1816 became known as the "Year Without a Summer" because of the effect on North American and European weather. Crops failed and livestock died in much of the Northern Hemisphere, resulting in the worst famine of the 19th century.[6]
jwirr
(39,215 posts)ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)I think I'd rather be toasted fast.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)Yes, even a *limited* exchange would no doubt have many negative effects on the environment, globally in the short-term and locally in the long term. But the stratospheric fallout wouldn't last a whole year in this scenario; 3-4 months, maybe, if we're talking an India-Pakistan type deal.
So, to be fair & honest, no doubt there would be many problems. But if we're talking India-Pakistan here, then it wouldn't be quite enough to *destroy* the whole planet.
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)Is a small nuclear war that will cause Global Cooling.
seveneyes
(4,631 posts)A small scale nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India would need at least a few thousand bombs exploded.
http://zidbits.com/2010/12/what-were-the-worlds-largest-explosions/
By far, the largest and largest natural explosion in recorded history was the 1815 Mount Tambora Volcanic eruption. Its blast was equivalent to 800 megatons of TNT. 4 times more energy than Krakatoa.
That didn't destroy the world, I doubt India and Pakistan would either.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)"Restraint! Why are you so concerned with saving their lives? The whole idea is to kill the bastards! At the end of the war, if there are two Americans and one Russian, we win!"
-- Lt. Gen. Thomas Power, commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command from 1957 to 1964, speaking to William Kaufmann of the RAND Corporation in 1960, cited by Fred Kaplan, The Wizards of Armageddon
http://curtis-lemay.tripod.com/
Ron Obvious
(6,261 posts)... by mentioning the effects of Nuclear Winter after even a small nuclear exchange. He was widely derided for it by the conservatives of his day who maintained the daft position that a nuclear war was "winnable".