A nuclear war would cause global famine and kill billions of people.
This is evidenced by the results of a study conducted by scientists from Rutgers University (USA), which assessed the production of crops after a possible conflict, the press service of the university reports.
Scientists have calculated how much soot, blocking sunlight, will enter the atmosphere as a result of fires that could result from the use of nuclear weapons. The researchers calculated the spread of soot resulting from six war scenarios:
- five variants of small wars between India and Pakistan;
- Great War between USA and Russia.
The analysis used data on the size of each country’s nuclear arsenal. These data were then fed into the CESM Earth model maintained by the US National Center for Atmospheric Research.
This system has made it possible to estimate the yields of major agricultural crops (maize, rice, spring wheat and soybeans) by country. The researchers also examined projected changes in livestock pastures and global marine fisheries.
The results showed:
- even in the slightest nuclear scenario – a local war between India and Pakistan – the average world production of calories would decrease by 7% within five years after the conflict;
- in the largest war scenario—a full-blown nuclear conflict between the US and Russia—average global calorie production would drop by about 90% three to four years after hostilities began. More than 5 billion people will starve to death after such a war;
- crop declines will be strongest in mid- and high-latitude countries, including major exporters such as Russia and the United States, which could lead to export restrictions and severe disruption in countries in Africa and the Middle East that depend on import.
These changes will lead to a catastrophic disruption to global food markets, the researchers note. “Even a 7 percent global yield decline would exceed the largest anomaly ever recorded since the Food and Agriculture Organization began making observations in 1961. In the biggest war scenario, more than 75% of the world’s population would starve for two years.
The researchers also looked at whether using crops that feed on livestock today and reducing food waste could make up for the calorie losses immediately after the war, but in a scenario of significant use of nuclear weapons, the savings would be minimal.
For example, the ozone layer would be destroyed by the heating of the stratosphere, which would increase ultraviolet radiation at the surface, the researchers note, adding that this would affect food supplies.
The scientists say they already have more than enough information to know that a nuclear war of any size would destroy the global food systems, killing billions of people in the process.
If nuclear weapons exist, they can be used, and the world has come close to nuclear war several times, the researchers note. A ban on nuclear weapons is the only long-term solution. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was ratified five years ago by 66 countries, but none of the nine nuclear states.
Putin no longer wants a nuclear war
Source: Racurs
