nuclear-news

This is not a geopolitical blog, but rather a science one. So I want to address the question of nuclear war’s effect on climate.

Rutgers University environmental research Alan Robock  has studied this question in a meaningful way, using NASA’s climate ModelE  to study the climatic effects of the byproducts of a nuclear war. Let me be clear, its effect on climate change is down the list of problems posed by nuclear weapons, but the long-term effects would nonetheless be profound, most specifically through colder temperatures, shorter growing seasons and famine.

First lets look at the consequences of a regional nuclear war using 100 15-kT (Hiroshima-size) weapons.

In this scenario, using Pakistan and India, weapons were dropped on the 50 targets in each country to produce the maximum smoke. An estimated 20 million would die, and 5 teragrams of smoke would be pumped into the atmosphere. Such a war would encompass just 0.3 percent of the world’s nuclear arsenal.

Here is its effect on global temperatures:..[very good graphs here] …..    there would be a substantial temporary cooling, but within a decade temperatures would likely respond to 1990s levels.

Then, the research group looked at the consequences of a full-scale nuclear war between the United States and Russia. While highly unlikely, the results of such a war on global temperatures live up to the nuclear winter  of which Carl Sagan warned.  ….. http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2012/03/effects-of-a-regional-nuclear-war-on-global-temperatures/