Nuclear
Weapons, Man’s Most Powerful Weapon of Mass Destruction
By:
Jai M.
Do you like the thought
of toxic, lethal radiation in our atmosphere and in our soil? Do you like the
thought of that lethal radiation staying in the atmosphere for thousands
of years? Well that is the disturbing truth of the most powerful man-made
object in the world: the Nuclear Bomb.
Scientists predicted that
if there were to be a nuclear war, and 100 nuclear weapons were used, it would
cause tens of millions of climatic changes, not to mention the significant
amount of deaths and/or extinctions that the war would cause. Even though it is
highly unlikely that a nuclear war will happen in the near future (but it is
still possible), nuclear tests are still a huge threat to the environment. The
U.S. alone has conducted over 1,000 nuclear tests underground, underwater, or
in the atmosphere in the past eighty years, and it is steadily increasing the
amount of radioactive material in the atmosphere. After atmospheric testing in the
1960s alone, radiocarbon levels in the atmosphere were up by 190%.
Nuclear
weapons have also become more powerful and more dangerous. The only time nukes
were actually used in war was in 1945 in World War 2. Both “Fat Man” and “Little
Boy” were nuclear bombs made from Plutonium and were dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, Japan. These two bombings killed well over 200,000 people. Just the
Nuclear tests from 1954 to 1980 were equivalent to 29,000 Hiroshima sized
nuclear explosions. That is petrifying.
Considering the amount of
damage nuclear weapons can do, and how much it affects humans and the Earth's
environment, the truth gets worse. The U.S. alone has 5,800 nuclear
warheads ready to be launched at any moment. Just process that number: 5,800
modern nuclear warheads. One warhead alone could kill an estimated 1.2 million
people and injure an additional 2 million people. All of these nukes are
stashed around the U.S. in secret hiding places such as in nuclear submarines,
in nuclear silos, secret military bases, and in some aircraft carriers. All of
these nukes can receive the order to launch at any moment and can reach
countries that are halfway around the world. That’s hard to even imagine.
Nuclear bombs are not
just a big explosion that blows up. It has many complex stages to cause maximum
destruction. Milliseconds after the initial explosion, there is a massive
fireball in the sky, followed by the massive mushroom cloud above where the
fireball was. Next, a shockwave travels at a speed of 300m/s, which is close to
the speed of sound, not to mention all of the radioactivity of which people can
get exposed. It can also cause severe radioactive burns called Beta Burns.
Scientists use “Millisieverts”
as a way of measuring how much radiation is in one's body, and how much
radiation one has been exposed to. After the attacks on Hiroshima and Nakasaki,
people were getting diagnosed with 50 to 100 millisieverts 20 weeks after the
explosion. That same amount of millisieverts can increase one’s chance of dying
from cancer in one’s lifetime by 25%. Some parts of Hiroshima and Nakasaki are
still unsafe to travel to this day from the threat of possible radiation
exposure since 1945 because the radioactive materials stay on Earth for thousands
of years before fully decomposing. The whole nuclear blast range has a good
chance to be contaminated with radioactivity that stays there for generations.
Keep in mind, the nuclear weapons used in World War 2 happened almost eighty
years ago, and Hiroshima and Nakasaki are still contaminated with radioactive
waste. Just take some time to imagine what a nuclear bomb could do in today’s
world. That is terrifying to think about.
That is the petrifying
truth of how strong nuclear weaponry can truly be. It can not only kill millions
of lifeforms, but it has long term effects on the Earth’s environment.
Countries and people need to start to focus on lowering the amounts of nuclear
testing and the possibility of a nuclear war. The world already has enough
major problems, and stopping nuclear use is one step closer to making the world
a safer and better place.
Your opinion is that the world needs to limit the use and testing of nuclear weapons and bombs. I agree. These bombs can kill so many innocent people, who have nothing to do with the conflict. It cause massive radiation exposure that can be lethal. The fact that this takes thousands of years to decompose means some places, like Hiroshima and Nagasaki, may never return to normal as long as we live. In addition, it contributes to climate change that causes a whole host of changes and problems. I agree that we need to limit the use and testing of these weapons. The level of destruction and violence outweighs the cause for using nuclear weapons.
ReplyDeleteI think your opinion is that the world needs to stop the use, testing, and making of nuclear weapons and bombs. I agree because the bombs can millions of innocent people, and harm millions of others. Also the effect on the atmosphere and environment is insane.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion about the terror of nukes. One reason I agree is the fact that it could kill millions with one of them. As well as the fact that it has a long term affect on the world.
ReplyDeleteYour opinion is that countries really need to cut down, or stop completely, the usage of nuclear bombs, and I completely agree with this. As you said before, only one warhead could cause 3.2 million casualties, and if a war starts with multiple warheads and other nuclear bombs, millions of people would die, and the population would drastically decrease.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with your topic because with these weapons people can do a lot of bad things. For example, in your text it said, "The U.S. alone has 5,800 nuclear warheads ready." Just think of that helpless people dying and people doing this in a war is just bad. For example in the text it said "Nuclear weapons have also become more powerful and more dangerous. The only time nukes were actually used in war was in 1945 in World War 2." Just knowing this it is just sad.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement because when you explained all of the deaths that have happened due to the nuclear warfare it just shows how bad nukes can do. Also 2 million people where injured and hurt because of the nukes and that is amazingly crazy because that it can do that much damage to buildings and people.
ReplyDelete