Regional nuclear war could spark climate change

[NVMojo]

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - New scientific modeling shows that a regional nuclear conflict between countries such as India and Pakistan could spark devastating climate changes worldwide, a team of researchers said on Monday.

"We are at a perilous crossroads," said Owen Toon of the University of Colorado at Boulder's Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. "The current combination of nuclear proliferation, political instability and urban demographics form perhaps the greatest danger to the stability of society since the dawn of humanity."

Toon was one of the scientists who warned in the 1980s of a "nuclear winter" should the United States and Soviet Union engage in a nuclear conflict.

The demise of the Soviet Union has reduced such a threat, but using supercomputing analysis not available two decades ago, the team calculated a devastating impact from the exchange of 100 nuclear weapons -- an amount they said represented the potential of India and Pakistan.

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N11428084.htm

[phantom power]

1. In other news: Climate change could spark regional nuclear war.