Scientists warn that a regional nuclear war could cause worldwide famine.
Researchers at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, USA, made a calculation model that simulates the effects of such a war through soot particles in the upper atmosphere.
The soot will block part of the sunlight and damage crops.
“In a nuclear war, bombs targeting cities and industrial areas will launch storms of fire and emit large amounts of soot into the upper atmosphere, as this soot will spread globally and rapidly cool the planet,” the scientists added.
In the smallest calculated scenario, 100 nuclear bombs with an explosive power of 15,000 tons each would eject about five million tons of soot into the upper atmosphere.
Simulations indicate that 27 million people will die outright and another 255 million people will die of starvation in various parts of the world.
These figures did not take into account the consequences of radioactive contamination.
“These numbers show us one thing, which is that we must prevent a nuclear war at all,” said one of the study participants, and that a ban on the use of nuclear weapons is the only long-term solution.
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