The threat of nuclear war is being voiced so loudly for the first time since the Cold War. But what can happen on Earth after a nuclear war? A team of scientists brought a scientific perspective on what would happen if atomic bombs started flying in today’s world. As you can imagine, the results are pretty scary.
The study, published in the journal AGU Advances, details how a nuclear war between any two or more of the world’s nine nuclear powers would result in massive soot and smoke being pumped into the upper atmosphere. As a result, the Sun’s rays are blocked and global temperatures drop by 7.2 degrees in a month.
The oceans will be places even more affected by nuclear war, which has plunged the world into a “Nuclear Little Ice Age” for decades, if not centuries. Ocean temperatures will drop, particularly in the northern parts, and rising sea ice will freeze the waters around major ports such as Beijing’s Tianjin Port, Copenhagen and St. Global trade could come to a standstill.
The freezing of the ocean and the absence of the Sun will cause the mass extinction of seaweed. As these form the basis of much of the marine food web, ocean creatures will starve, resulting in the near total extinction of fishing and aquaculture.
“It doesn’t matter who bombs who. It could be India and Pakistan or NATO and Russia. Once the smoke spreads into the upper atmosphere, it will spread globally and affect everyone,” says study lead author Cheryl Harrison, of Louisiana State University.
Currently, nine countries in the world have nuclear weapons. While most of these warheads are technically “retired”, their number is estimated at around 13,000. While the overwhelming majority of warheads are in the hands of the United States and Russia, France, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea also hold just over 1,000 warheads.
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