NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The nuclear holocaust is a dramatic scenario that arose after a possible war between the United States and Russia or any other nuclear power. The devastating consequences of a warlike confrontation of this magnitude can only be summed up in the possibility of the destruction of the human species and any form of life on Earth.

Nuclear war - and, consequently, the holocaust it would cause on the planet - is an ever-present hypothesis based on the development of atomic energy for war purposes. Its consequences could be palpated with the dropping of nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagazaki, in World War II.

The effects were also observed in the period of the Cold War, with the missile crisis that was generated between the United States and the former Soviet Union in 1962, together with the subsequent existing threats of confrontation and the nuclear accidents of Chernobyl (Ukraine) and Fukushima in Japan.

Today the issue has come into force with the nuclear tests recently carried out by North Korea. Also with the development of nuclear energy by Iran (whose plants it had to dismantle) and the 14,900 nuclear weapons still existing in the world.

The possibility of a holocaust occurring or not is the responsibility of the governments of the current nuclear powers of the world; that is, the US, Russia, the UK, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel.

Causes

During the Cold War a series of studies was developed about the effects of an armed conflict between the United States and the USSR; it even came to be considered that the confrontation between the two powers was inevitable. This would result in the holocaust or nuclear apocalypse.

The recent diplomatic crisis between Russia and Europe with the United States over the War in Syria, once again put the confrontational hypothesis on the table.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had ICBMs in his possession. This statement was followed by another by US President Donald Trump, announcing that he possessed smart missiles.

However, the causes of a holocaust can be varied, according to the studies carried out so far and the nuclear experience of the last 70 years. Here are some possible causes:

- A local or regional nuclear war with consequences for the whole world. For example, a warlike confrontation between India and Pakistan, two other nuclear powers of the world.

- Acquisition and use of nuclear bombs by Islamic terrorist groups such as Isis, Al Shabaab, etc.

- Launching of missiles with nuclear warheads by North Korea against any of its neighbors in Asia or the United States.

- The devastation could be caused by new nuclear accidents at military or civil facilities. For example, those that have already occurred in Chernobyl and Fukushima but on a larger scale, which could cause a significant radioactive leak.

Consequences

The consequences of the nuclear holocaust have been the most powerful deterrent against any possibility of a warlike confrontation.

It is based on the military doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD). This doctrine establishes that if one nuclear power attacks another with nuclear weapons, both nations would be annihilated.

After the collapse and disintegration of the Soviet Union (USSR) the world tensions diminished; therefore, for some theorists a global nuclear war seems unlikely. Yet in today's much-talked-about Cold War reissue setting, it wouldn't seem so unlikely.

Nuclear holocaust

After the publication in 1957 of the novel by Nevil Shute called On the beach (On the beach, in English), there has been talk of the consequences of a nuclear holocaust. The novel is about the nuclear detonation of Castle Bravo, carried out by the United States in 1954.

However, the oldest reference to the use of the term "holocaust" to describe the apocalypse that would ensue after a nuclear war appeared in 1926 in the novel by the writer Reginald Glossop, entitled The Orphan of Space.

Since 1990, no more scientific studies have been published on the consequences of the nuclear holocaust, but this does not mean that the issue is no less important, despite the fact that today there are only half of the nuclear bombs manufactured in the 1980s.

Scientific studies

Scientific research in the 1980s elucidated the effects of a nuclear explosion on nature. The dust and smoke would block most of the sunlight, as well as the sun's heat from the Earth's surface.

Consequently, the Earth would turn dark and cold in a permanent arctic winter, causing human extinction.

Before the nuclear weapons destruction treaty signed between the US and the USSR, American and Soviet scientists met to discuss the consequences of a nuclear war.

Immediate and environmental consequences

In the event of a war between two nuclear powers (for example, the US and Russia) involving the use of some 2,600 nuclear weapons, the following would be the possible consequences:

- Hundreds of cities in the US, Europe and Russia would be engulfed in storms of flames, burning everything they can reach around them. This would cause the annihilation of most of the population of those cities and neighboring areas.

- Some 150 million tons of smoke generated by nuclear fires would cover the stratosphere with a thick layer that would spread throughout the world. The passage of sunlight would be blocked for years. The northern hemisphere would be prevented from receiving sunlight by 70% and up to 35% in the southern hemisphere.

- The absence of sunlight on the surface of the Earth would cause the temperature on the planet to be lower than during the last Ice Age, 18,000 years ago. Terrestrial cooling of more than 20 ° C would be very rapid in large areas of North America, and of more than 30 ° C in most of Eurasia.

- The cooling of the Earth would last between 1 and 3 years, preventing agriculture and, therefore, obtaining food.

- Global precipitation would be reduced on average by 45% due to the prolonged cold.

- The ozone layer would be destroyed for the most part, allowing ultraviolet rays to penetrate the Earth. This would destroy another large portion of human, animal and plant life.

- Large amounts of radioactive rain would be generated that would spread throughout the world.

Consequences for human and animal life

- The fires would generate gigantic clouds of toxic smoke polluting the air and causing respiratory diseases. Stored chemicals would be released into the environment.

- Rapid changes in temperature and rainfall, together with environmental pollution, would make it impossible for many living beings to survive.

- Terrestrial and marine life in general would collapse as a consequence of the collapse of ecosystems.

- Most of the humans surviving the initial catastrophe would starve to death because they could not grow food or obtain it from nature.

- The hostile environment of the post-nuclear war would also make the survival of those who took refuge in conditioned shelters unlikely. Equipping with water, food, medicine, and energy for years would not ensure survival in an inert world.

References

1. Hal Cochrane, PH.D., and Dennis Mileti, PH.D. The Consequences of Nuclear War: An Economic and Social Perspective. Retrieved May 2, 2018 from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
2. Nuclear War - Open Evidence Project. Consulted of openev.debatecoaches.org
3. Consequences of a large nuclear war. Consulted of nucleardarkness.org
4. Nuclear Accidents and Holocaust: Definition, Causes and Consequences of Accidents. Consulted of yourarticlelibrary.com
5. How nuclear war would affect the world climate and human health. Consulted of medium.com
6. Even A Small Nuclear War Would Still Have Effects On Global Scale. Consulted of forbes.com
7. Nuclear holocaust. Consulted of en.wikipedia.org