Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s threats at the time awakened in us fears of nuclear war that we thought were almost buried forever in the past. In the hope of opening the eyes of our leaders a little more, researchers are now showing us what the disastrous consequences of such a conflict would be.
In the world, there would be more than 13,000 nuclear weapons ready to be launched. Or almost. These are figures from the International Peace Research Institute in Stockholm (Sweden). A nuclear force controlled by only nine states. including Russia. And that’s what worried a lot when Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine in February 2022.
The hysteria of the moment subsided a little, Louisiana State University researchers (United States) asked themselves the question with a clear head. What would be the impact of a nuclear war on the world in which we live? To answer this question, they conducted several computer simulations. Depending on whether the war in question is confined to a given region or whether it is more global.
There is a point on which all the scenarios of American researchers converge. L’explosion of nuclear bombs would release enough soot and smoke in the high atmosphere to block a significant portion of the Sun’s rays. It doesn’t matter who is bombing who. What happens in the upper atmosphere spreads globally. Result: during the first month, a drop in average temperatures of around 10°C. More than our Earth experienced in the last ice Age. The consequence is colossal crop losses across the planet.
Major consequences in the oceans
Ocean temperatures would drop, too. Without being able to ascend quickly after the dissipation of the fumes. Because the oceans take longer to recover. In the most dramatic scenario — a US-Russian nuclear war with the explosion of 4,400 weapons and 150 teragrams of dust ejected into the atmosphere — it would take them decades to come back to the surface. And probably hundreds of years to find the depths we know them today.
The ice would extend to block certain important ports. That of Tianjin, the largest port in northern China, that of Copenhagen (Denmark) or even that of Saint Petersburg (Russia). More generally, the sea ice would come to block a good number of shipping lanes in thenorthern hemisphere. making theforwarding very picky food. For the thousands of years of a true ” little ice age nuclear “ in the event of a major US/Russian conflict.
Falling temperatures and light in the oceans would kill algae marines. However, these are the basis of the food chain. Enough to put all marine life in danger and jeopardize most fishing activities.sin.
This work by researchers at Louisiana State University once again shows how interdependent Earth systems are. How fragile our supply systems are, even in the face of regional conflicts! The scientists hope that, as was the case in the 1980s, their simulations will help make world leaders aware of the disastrous consequences of nuclear war. For everyone. So that more and more countries ratify the United Nations treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons. “We really must do everything to avoid a nuclear war”they conclude.
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