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Would humanity survive World War III? A new study has the answer

An atomic war has been a well-founded fear for the past 70 years and to show that it would be one of the worst things that could happen to humanity, the National Center for Atmospheric Research The United States conducted a study to show what would be the consequences of detonating multiple nuclear bombs, the most important being that they would alter the world climate and they would devastate the ozone layer.

The researchers pointed out that chemical reactions involving nitrogen oxide, stratospheric warming, ultraviolet rays, and decreased photochemistry would be lethal across the planet. To reach their conclusions, they posed hypothetical scenarios:

  • A nuclear war regionally between the India and Pakistan, with a generation of 5 megatons of smoke
  • A nuclear war on a global scale between United States and Russia, with a generation of 150 megatons.

What would be the worst consequences of a nuclear world war?

The results would not be friendly, since a global conflict of these proportions would destroy around 75% of the ozone layer in a period of 15 yearss. As a first symptom, the temperature would begin to drop because sunlight would be blocked, which would also alter rainfall patterns.

And after a few years, the smoke would begin to dissipate, with which the ultraviolet radiation would penetrate with force and ease through a depleted ozone layer, those impacts would be devastating both for humans and for the environment, since they could cause certain types of cancer skin, cataracts and immune disorders. The ozone layer also protects terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, as well as agriculture.

“In addition to all the deaths that would occur almost immediately after the bomb explosions, the climatic effects and the aftermath of ultraviolet rays would be widespread,” he said. Charles Bardeen, lead author of the study, which was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. “The effects would not be local to where the conflict occurred, but would affect the whole world,” he added.

What is the atomic bomb?

An atomic bomb or nuclear bomb is a device that obtains a large amount of explosive energy through nuclear reactions. Its operation is based on causing a sustained nuclear chain reaction. It is among the so-called weapons of mass destruction and produces a distinctive mushroom-shaped cloud when detonated; The first atomic bombs were developed by the United States during the Second World War. His procedure is based on the nuclear fission of heavy atomic nuclei into lighter elements, through the bombardment of neutrons that, when impacting on said material, cause a nuclear chain reaction. For this to happen, it is necessary to use fissile isotopes, such as uranium-235 or plutonium-239.

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