More than 100 million people could die immediately if India and Pakistan wage a nuclear war, followed by global mass starvation, according to a new study.
"Such a war would threaten not only the locations where bombs might be targeted but the entire world," said the co-author.
The studt published in thejournal Science Advances looked at a war scenario that could occur between India and Pakistan in 2025. The neighboring countries, which both place claim and have waged several wars over the Kashmir territory, could have a combined 400 to 500 nuclear weapons by then. Skirmishes continue to this day.
The research found that fires ignited by exploding nuclear weapons could release 16 million to 36 million tons of soot (black carbon) in smoke that would rise into the upper atmosphere, spreading around the world within weeks.
The soot would absorb solar radiation, heating the air and boosting the smoke's swift rise. Sunlight reaching the Earth would decline by 20 to 35 percent, cooling the surface by 3.6 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit (2 to 5 degrees Celsius) and reducing precipitation by 15 to 30 percent, with larger regional impacts.
Vegetation growth would decline by 15 to 30 percent on land and ocean productivity would decline by 5 to 15 percent. Recovery from all these impacts would take more than 10 years because the smoke would linger in the upper atmosphere.
"Nine countries have nuclear weapons, but Pakistan and India are the only ones rapidly increasing their arsenals," the co-author said. "Because of the continuing unrest between these two nuclear-armed countries, particularly over Kashmir, it is important to understand the consequences of a nuclear war."
Researchers say the weapons in 2025 could range from 15 kilotons in explosive power - equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT, the same size as the U.S. bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 - to a few hundred kilotons.
If India used 100 strategic weapons and Pakistan used 150, an estimated 50 to 125 million people could die from the direct effects, with additional deaths from mass starvation possible worldwide.
"Nuclear weapons cannot be used in any rational scenario but could be used by accident or as a result of hacking, panic or deranged world leaders," the co-author said. "The only way to prevent this is to eliminate them."
https://news.rutgers.edu/nuclear-war-between-india-and-pakistan-could-kill-millions-worldwide/20190924#.XZcuI_ZFyM9
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/10/eaay5478
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Frapidly-expanding&filter=22
Latest News
Metabolic rewiring promotes…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Apr
A drug to prevent flu-induc…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Apr
New origin of deep brain waves
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Starving cells hijack prote…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Miniature battery-free epid…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Other Top Stories
Virtual reality-based real-time imaging of autism brain
Read more
Synthetic gene drives as an anthropogenic evolutionary force
Read more
AI predicts enzyme function better than leading tools
Read more
Programmable protein delivery with a bacterial contractile injectio…
Read more
Brillouin microscopy for live imaging of mechanics of embryo develo…
Read more
Protocols
MemPrep, a new technology f…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
A tangible method to assess…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
Stem cell-derived vessels-o…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Apr
Single-cell biclustering fo…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Apr
Modular dual-color BiAD sen…
By newseditor
Posted 31 Mar
Publications
How does the microbiota con…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Apr
The integrated stress respo…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Apr
The immunobiology of herpes…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Circulating microbiome DNA…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Spindle oscillations in com…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Apr
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar