Modern Nuclear-War Deterrence Begins With Nuke Locks. March 25 (Bloomberg) -- Start thinking the unthinkable. We as a nation have to start talking about the prospects for nuclear war. President Barack Obama says Iran might have a bomb in a year. To hold back the day, the U.S. and Israel have conducted cyberwar, and Israel has apparently assassinated Iranian scientists. But even if Israel attacks to stop Iran’s bomb making now, the day will dawn. What will we do if Israel threatens Tehran with nuclear obliteration? What if North Korea aims a warhead at Seoul? And what if the missiles start flying? Few American military and political leaders have thought seriously about nuclear strategy since the end of the Cold War. Our military commanders know a thousand ways in which a war could start between Israel and Iran, on the Korean peninsula or in the Indian subcontinent.
Nuclear Strategy We don’t need magical thinking about abolishing the bomb. Bracken knows whereof he speaks. Bracken was invited to be its “Thucydidean chronicler,” in his words. 525360_10151617134293784_963352462_n.jpg (960×494) "Nobody Wins a Nuclear War" But "Success" is Possible. National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 336 Posted - February 19, 2011 For more information contact: William Burr - 202/994-7000 Washington, D.C., February 19, 2011 - "The Power of Decision" may be the first (and perhaps the only) U.S. government film depicting the Cold War nightmare of a U.S. -Soviet nuclear conflict. The U.S. Air Force produced it during 1956-1957 at the request of the Strategic Air Command.
Unseen for years and made public for the first time by the National Security Archive, the film depicts the U.S. Colonel Dodd, the narrator, asserts that "nobody wins a nuclear war because both sides are sure to suffer terrible damage. " Little is known about the production or subsequent distribution of "The Power of Decision. " This film is from a DVD supplied by the U.S.
View the complete film below or watch a four-minute clip of the film on the Archive's YouTube channel. View the Complete Film By William Burr Notes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. How One Nuclear Skirmish Could Wreck the Planet | Wired Science. Image: A nuclear bomb test. Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Updated: Feb. 25, 2011; 11:40 p.m. EST WASHINGTON — Even a small nuclear exchange could ignite mega-firestorms and wreck the planet’s atmosphere.
New climatological simulations show 100 Hiroshima-sized nuclear bombs — relatively small warheads, compared to the arsenals military superpowers stow today — detonated by neighboring countries would destroy more than a quarter of the Earth’s ozone layer in about two years. Regions closer to the poles would see even more precipitous drops in the protective gas, which absorbs harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Researchers described the results during a panel Feb. 18 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, calling it “a real bummer” that such a localized nuclear war could bring the modern world to its knees. ‘It’s pretty clear this would lead to a global nuclear famine.’ Today we have larger cities than we did then — mega cities. Thinking Existentially about the Worldwide Threat | Arms Control Now: The Blog of the Arms Control Association.
Image Source: AP By Greg Thielmann A panel of scientists provided a useful update today on the latest thinking about the climatic consequences of nuclear weapons use. The presentation provided a grim reminder that the nuclear Sword of Damocles still hangs over all nations of the earth, nuclear and non-nuclear powers alike – notwithstanding the significant achievement of New START ratification by the United States and Russia. At the annual meeting in Washington of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Georgiy Stenchikov (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), Luke Oman (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), and Michael Mills (National Center for Atmospheric Research) shared results of their research, benefiting from extensive studies of related phenomenon in recent decades, such as massive forest fires, volcanic eruptions, and oil well fires. A previous posting summarized some key elements of continuity and change in the annual publication.
Like this: Limited Nuclear War Could Deplete Ozone Layer, Increasing Radiation. PrintShareEmailTwitterFacebookLinkedIn By Chris Schneidmiller Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON -- A nuclear conflict involving as few as 100 weapons could produce long-term damage to the ozone layer, enabling higher than "extreme" levels of ultraviolet radiation to reach the Earth's surface, new research indicates (see GSN, March 16, 2010). Increased levels of UV radiation from the sun could persist for years, possibly with a drastic impact on humans and the environment, even thousands of miles from the area of the nuclear conflict. “A regional nuclear exchange of 100 15-kiloton weapons … would produce unprecedented low-ozone columns over populated areas in conjunction with the coldest surface temperatures experienced in the last 1,000 years, and would likely result in a global nuclear famine,” according to a presentation delivered on Friday at a major science conference in Washington.
"These UV levels are literally off the charts," NCAR scientist Julia Lee-Taylor said in the release.