Activating nuclear weapons would lead to enormous fires and release vast amounts of ash into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight from reaching the earth, resulting in a decline in food production and causing many deaths, according to this research.
“A large proportion of the population will face starvation. This is truly dire,” said Lili Xia, a climate scientist at Rutgers University and the lead author of the study, in an interview with Nature.
Illustrative image: Getty
Building on previous studies, scientists calculated how the ash released from nuclear explosions would obstruct sunlight.
“Decreased sunlight, a colder global climate, and trade restrictions imposed after a nuclear war would be a disaster for global food security“, the study predicts.
Alan Robock, a Professor of Climate Science at Rutgers University and a co-author of the study, stated: “The data tells us one thing: We must prevent nuclear war from occurring.”
The study also estimated that any nuclear explosion would generate over 5 trillion grams of ash, leading to widespread food shortages in nearly every country.
“In this horrific scenario, many people would die in the U.S., Europe, Russia, allied nations, and many others,” remarked Deepak K. Ray in an interview with Newsweek.
According to the authors of the study, this is the first research of its kind on this topic.
“No one has ever made these calculations before. No one has estimated the number of people who would die,” researcher Robock noted in a statement to Health Day News.
The authors estimate that starvation deaths due to a nuclear war between India and Pakistan could reach approximately 2.5 billion people within two years of the conflict breaking out, while a nuclear war between Russia and the U.S. could lead to around 5 billion people starving worldwide.
Nuclear war may seem less dangerous than during the Cold War, yet approximately 9 countries currently possess over 12,000 nuclear warheads.
“If nuclear weapons exist, they can be used, and the world has come close to the threat of nuclear war several times. Banning nuclear weapons is the only long-term solution,” scientist Robock emphasized.
This research was published in Nature Food.