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A new survey shows people are not really worried about nuclear war because they do not understand the catastrophic ramifications of a “nuclear winter”.

Castle Bravo nuclear test

Survey says there is little public awareness of the long-term effects of nuclear winter

A new survey reveals people in the UK and the US are not sufficiently aware of the potentially catastrophic environmental consequences of nuclear war, known as “nuclear winter”. The study, conducted last month and released by the University of Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER), shows that although the risk of a nuclear exchange is currently high due to Russia’s ongoing war efforts, there is little public awareness of the long-term effects of nuclear winter.

What is a nuclear winter?

Nuclear winter is a theoretical scenario that describes the long-term environmental consequences that could result from a nuclear war. It is a phenomenon that could occur if there were to be a large-scale exchange of nuclear warheads between two countries.

Nuclear weapon test Bravo (yield 15 Mt) on Bikini Atoll

During a nuclear exchange, the detonation of nuclear weapons releases a vast amount of debris into the stratosphere, ultimately blocking out much of the sun, and causing global drops in temperature. The debris from the explosion could reach the stratosphere, the layer of the Earth’s atmosphere located between 10 and 50 km above the surface, and stay there for up to ten years. This would prevent a significant amount of sunlight from reaching the Earth’s surface, which would result in a significant decrease in the Earth’s temperature.

The scientific theory behind nuclear winter sees the resulting global drops in temperature causing mass crop failure and widespread famine. Radiation fall-out, the residual radioactive material released into the atmosphere after a nuclear explosion, could also lead to millions more people dying in the wake of a nuclear war, even if they are far outside of any blast zone.

The idea of nuclear winter first gained attention during the Cold War. TV shows, films such as Threads and The Day After, and novels such as Z for Zachariah, permeated UK and US culture with ideas of nuclear winter. Thus, at the time, the public was well-versed in the ramifications of a nuclear war.

One in five say “nuke ’em if they nuke us”

The poll, which asked 3,000 US and UK participants if they knew much about nuclear winter, found that only a few people had heard about it from recent academic studies or contemporary media or culture. The survey also tested support for nuclear retaliation, finding that fewer than one in five participants surveyed in both countries would support nuclear reprisals in the event of a nuclear attack.

Paul Ingram, senior research associate at CSER, suggests there is an urgent need for public education within all nuclear-armed states that is informed by the latest research.

Image Credits

In-Article Image Credits

Castle Bravo nuclear test via Wikimedia Commons by Federal government of the United States with usage type - Public Domain. March 1, 1954
Nuclear weapon test Bravo (yield 15 Mt) on Bikini Atoll via Wikimedia Commons by United States Department of Energy with usage type - Public Domain. March 1, 1954

Featured Image Credit

Castle Bravo nuclear test via Wikimedia Commons by Federal government of the United States with usage type - Public Domain. March 1, 1954

 

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