Study: Even a small, regional nuclear war would destroy civilization

[davidn3600]

DENVER (CBS4) – With an estimated 17,000 nuclear weapons in the world, we have the power to exterminate humanity many times over.

But it wouldn’t 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.

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/03/26/study-small-nuclear-war-would-destroy-the-world/

[Warpy]

1. Any regional war would be widened if they started to lob nukes

because nuclear fallout doesn't respect national borders. While nuclear winter likely wouldn't result nor would the ozone layer be completely wiped out, other problems would present themselves like an increase in cancer rates worldwide, with hot spots downwind of such a "small" nuclear war.

[man4allcats]

2. For some freaky insights into the dangers of nuclear war, even limited nuclear war,

read Peter Byrne's biography of the late physicist Hugh Everett III. Trained in quantum mechanics, he published only one paper on that subject, his dissertation which, though revolutionary, was ignored by 1950s era mainstream physicists because it went against the grain of Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation. Disgruntled by the rejection, he left academia and put his Princeton PhD and genius intellect to work as a cold warrior developing weapon systems, nuclear and otherwise, for the U.S. The book is interesting on many levels including Everett's numerous eccentricities and indulgences (he was a practicing alcoholic and womanizer), but the specifics of the capabilities and effects of these types of weapons as described by Everett and his colleagues is particularly sobering.

[Initech]

3. I can't remember who said this, but it is proving to be more right every day:

"No one knows what kind of weapons World War III will be fought with, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

That quote has stood out in my mind since elementary school.

[flamingdem]

4. great quote!

something to keep in mind..

[Initech]

5. It's driving me crazy that I can't remember who said it.

[ck4829]

7. Albert Einstein

[flamingdem]

8. Fred Flintstone of the future?

If I find it I'll let you know!

[ck4829]

6. And the fallout would easily reach everything east of India in that example

There will never be a 'limited' nuclear war.