Home | About Natural News | Contact Us | Write for Natural News | Media Information | Advertise with Natural News
NaturalNews.com
nuclear war

Small-scale nuclear war could devastate global environment for years, researchers say

Monday, December 18, 2006 by: Ben Kage, citizen journalist
Key concepts: Nuclear war, Nuclear weapons and Nuclear winter
View on NaturalPedia: Nuclear war, Nuclear weapons and Nuclear winter
Share/Save/Bookmark   Email this article to a friend Printable Version  FREE Email Newsletter

Articles Related to This Article:



Support NaturalNews advertisers - Advertise with NaturalNews


Help support NaturalNews with health books and educational programs from Truth Publishing:

Swine Flu Advanced Preparedness
8 Weeks to Vibrant Health
Raw In Ten Minutes (recipes)
How to Halt Diabetes in 25 Days
... and much more.

(NaturalNews) The environmental impacts of a nuclear war -- nuclear winter, decades of radiation fallout -- are terrifying enough, but a team of researchers concluded today that even a small-scale, regional nuclear war could vastly disrupt the global climate for a decade or longer.

"Considering the relatively small number and size of the weapons, the effects are surprisingly large," said Richard Turco, a researcher from the University of California, Los Angeles. "The potential devastation would be catastrophic and long term."

According to the report presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, the initial effects of a Hiroshima-sized detonation could be as many fatalities as all of World War II, and then the environment could be affected in ways never considered. The scientists said that large areas of the planet could drastically drop in temperature if a nuclear detonation occurred.

"It would be the largest climate change in recorded human history," said team member Alan Robock, associate director of the Center for Environmental Prediction at Rutgers' Cook College.

A team from the University of Colorado, Boulder focused their attention on the black smoke that would be created by a nuclear detonation, and the subsequent firestorms, basing their research on current population densities in large cities worldwide and current nuclear weapon inventories. They found that each country would sustain fatalities ranging from 2.6 million to 16.7 million people.

"A small country is likely to direct its weapons against population centers to maximize damage and achieve the greatest advantage," said lead researcher Owen "Brian" Toon.

Robock and his team used computer simulations of a conflict between India and Pakistan, for example, to analyze potential climate changes caused by a regional nuclear war. In the simulations, each combatant used 50 nuclear weapons on the other country. The smoke caused by such a battle would settle in the Earth's upper atmosphere -- where some rays from the sun are usually absorbed -- and greatly diffuse the sunlight before it hits the surface. The shroud would cause lower temperatures, darkness, reduced precipitation, and ozone depletion.

The team said, in the Pakistan/India example, the smoke could drop average temperatures by 2 degrees Fahrenheit as far away as North America and Eurasia. Ten years later, the simulated climate had not recovered from the war. Previous studies had analyzed what would happen if countries fired their entire nuclear arsenals at each other, but the recent study accounts for three-hundredths of a percent of that global arsenal.

The scientists said they were hopeful that positive change would come from their conclusion.

"We certainly hope there will be a political response because nuclear weapons are the most dangerous potential environmental danger to the planet." Robock said. "They're much more dangerous than global warming."

###


Get articles like this delivered to you FREE in our popular email newsletter

Related CounterThink Cartoons:


Related Articles:


Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com

Email this article to a friend

Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us

Permalink to this article:

Reprinting this article: Non-commercial use OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link.

Embed article link: (copy HTML code below):



(FREE) Thursday evening, Nov. 12 at 6pm Pacific (9pm Eastern), call in to hear the NaturalNews Talk Hour with special guest Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn - "Making Yourself Heart Attack Proof" Register via email to receive call-in number:
Enter Your Email::
Support NaturalNews sponsors:
Advertise with NaturalNews...

Explore NaturalPedia.com, the internet's largest natural health encyclopedia of knowledge, covering over 50,000 topics. It's free!
Visit NaturalPedia.com.


FREE Report: The Five Best Anti-Viral Products to Beat Influenza, Swine Flu, Bird Flu and SARS

• Top anti-viral remedies
• Where to get them now
• Four things to avoid
• Become self-reliant
• Boost your family safety

Click here to read the FREE report now.

W.H.O. Declares Global Pandemic
Turn FEAR into Confidence!

Listen to the complete 3.5 hour recording on 4 audio CDs of the Health Ranger's Swine Flu Advanced Preparedness Course, covering natural anti-virals, family safety, infrastructure disruptions, quarantine, preparedness gear and much more.

Testimonials:

"Mike Adams' preparedness course turned our fears into confidence. This is POWERFUL information, coming from a trusted source. If you want to save yourself countless hours researching and getting prepared and if you want to do everything in your power to protect your family, I highly recommend the Health Ranger’s Advanced Preparedness Course."
- N. Nelson (Arizona)

"This is packed information no one should miss."
- T. Valenzuela

"Thanks Mike... during this class you covered prevention and preparedness from A to Z with integrity, brave honesty and outstanding knowledge! Thank you for your steadfast, thorough and cool-headed approach to well being. With deep gratitude for your service." - Bev

Available NOW for immediate shipping.
100% satisfaction guarantee

Click here to learn more...


NEW Product: Valley of Longevity Shampoo from the Health Ranger

• 98% Organic
• 100% Natural
• 100% Fragrance Free!
• No SLS
• No Parabens
• No synthetic chemicals
• FREE shipping in U.S. on orders over $75

Click here to read more...


Breaking News Stories:

     See more breaking news...

What is this?


Enter your details to learn more:
First Name:
Last Name:
Email:

(Email privacy guaranteed.)

Free Special Reports

How to Build Your Financial Safety Net
The 7 Principles of Mindful Wealth
The Healing Power of Sunlight and Vitamin D
The pH Nutrition Guide to Acid / Alkaline Balance
Pet Food Ingredients Revealed! (shocking)
Medicine From Fish
The Water Cure

Additional Products of Interest to All

Katadyn Exstream XR Water Purifier
#1 personal water purifier
for clean, pristine water in seconds

Preparedness Tools Natural News Bundle
For preparedness and safety: 60% off
for preparing for natural disasters

How to Halt Diabetes in 25 Days
Health Ranger guide to reversing diabetes
for reversing type-2 diabetes

Free download: Selling Sickness (summary)
Read the best book on disease mongering
for learning the truth about Big Pharma

Revealed: Natural Health Solutions (free)
Free summary of book by Mike Adams
for learning censored natural health remedies

Exposed! The Toxic Chemistry of Products
Free summary of this shocking book
for learning the truth about toxic products

Appetite for Profit (free download)
Free download summary of this top book
for discovering the truth about food companies

The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton
A free download of Biology of Belief
for learning about the mind-biology connection

The Genie In Your Genes by Dawson Church
A free, downloadable summary of this book
for learning about the biology of intention

Katadyn MicroPur Water Purifier Tablets
The best water purification tablets
for purifying almost any water source

The Weiss Method for Heart Disease
How to reverse heart disease naturally
for heart disease, high cholesterol

* Products do NOT pay to be listed here. These are genuine, independent recommendations by the Health Ranger

☯ Products with this symbol are sold by NaturalNews or its affiliates and earn revenues for NaturalNews

Also on NaturalNews:

Streaming Health Ranger Videos
CounterThink Cartoons
FREE Special Reports
Podcasts


Home | About Natural News | Contact Us | Write for Natural News | Media Information | Advertise with Natural News

This site is part of the Natural News Network © 2009 All Rights Reserved. Privacy | Terms All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing International, LTD. is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published here. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.