Antinuclear

Volcano- a mere hint of what a ‘limited’ nuclear war would be like

Climate scientists have applied lessons from volcanic eruptions like Tambora to estimate how nuclear fallout would affect the global climate. The projections aren’t good.

What the Volcano Can Teach Us About Nuclear War, GOOD, Alexandra Bell, Ben Loehrke on April 30, 2010 Think the ash cloud was bad? That’s nothing compared to what would happen if India and Pakistan exchange just a few nukes……Even though “duck and cover” drills have gone the way of the dodo and VHS, people still understand that a nuclear explosion would cause unfathomable death and destruction. What they probably do not realize is that if a nuclear war broke out anywhere, the fallout would have global consequences that would kill millions of people, disrupt climate patterns, and threaten global agricultural collapse. How do we know that would happen? Volcanoes….

Climate scientists have applied lessons from volcanic eruptions like Tambora to estimate how nuclear fallout would affect the global climate. The projections aren’t good.

Put aside Cold War ideas of a U.S.-Russian nuclear exchange, India and Pakistan are the world’s tensest nuclear rivals. Both nations possess more than 100 nuclear weapons and they have mobilized for nuclear war with each other—twice.  The scientists Alan Robock and Owen Brian Toon estimate (pdf) that in even a limited exchange—perhaps 50 nuclear explosions on each side—20 million Indians and Pakistanis would die from the nuclear blasts, fires, and radioactive fallout. But that’s just the beginning. The firestorm ignited by the bombs would spread heavy smoke across South Asia and send 5 million tons of particles into the atmosphere. Within 49 days, the particles would “blanket the earth, blocking enough sunlight that skies would look overcast perpetually, everywhere.” With less sun, the global average surface-air temperature would drop by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. Precipitation averages would fall and climate patterns would change dramatically.

What the Volcano Can Teach Us About Nuclear War – Canapés and Kalashnikovs – GOOD

May 1, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | antinuclear, nuclear weapons