Nuclear Weapons & the Environment
The affect of nuclear weapons on this Earth in which we all belong to and call home is ever-present and needing to be voiced.
With their creation came nuclear waste, which even today continues to be an issue due to proper storage. This way it does not affect the water that towns surrounding need for survival. As well as provides safe working conditions for those employed at the sites. With their detonations and tests, radiation is a huge issue with risk of exposure during the event as well as in the future. Radiation continues to remain, although slowly diminishing over time with active clean up, but still continues to affect the local rivers, air, soil, and agriculture. Now what would happen if there was a nuclear war? What would be the lasting effects? These are questions that need to sit with each of us, especially as more money and focus is allocated to nuclear weapons and their existence. More studies and research have continued to demonstrate the negative impact. To continue the existence and care for our home, the Earth, retirement of nuclear weapons is imperative in the here and now. For more information, check out: - The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability that extensively outlines the clean up process and seeks a nuclear-free world that protects communities and the environment. - For more local efforts in Washington State, look at the Puget Sound Nuclear Free Zone's blog and Ground Zero Center for NonViolent Action. - Another great resource updated by Leonard Elger is Nuclear Abolitionist. |
The Biggest Threat:Scientists have been saying that nuclear weapons pose the single biggest threat to the Earth's environment.
A study in 2006 found that even a small-scale war would quickly devastate the environment, especially the climate and ecosystems. Richard Turco of UCLA spoke at a conference saying that detonating between 50-100 bombs (only around 3% of the worlds' total) would create climate anomalies due to unprecedented levels of soot thrown in the air. Research in the study predicts that:
"Nuclear weapons are the greatest environmental danger to the planet from humans, not global warming or ozone depletin," said Alan Robock, one of the co-authors of the study. All information from this Guardian article |