The nuclear winter would be worse than we thought

Although it occurred (fortunately) only once in real life, the nuclear war has long been an essential element in science fiction. Popular photography of the nuclear conflict – from a biography excitement like Obenheimer To imagined disasters such as The next dayThe reflection of understanding that its consequences will be irreversible and catastrophic for modern society.

It is not surprising that the nuclear war and its potential repercussions relate to scientists as much as the book of imagination. In a modern paper published in Environmental research messagesResearchers at Pennsylvania State University examined how nuclear warfare food security around the world can disrupt, specifically focus on the global production of corn, The most productive grain crop in the world. In the worst scenario, nuclear weapons caused chaos on our systems in the atmosphere, gradually reducing annual corn production by up to 87 %, the study warned.

For simulation, the authors in 38,572 have seen corn production sites across six different scenarios of the nuclear war to increase intensity. The simulation occurred below Nuclear winter Conditions, virtual climate scenario after a large -scale nuclear war. During the nuclear winter, black carbon is a fire caused by nuclear bombings, which will fill the sky, which hinders the sunlight. The resulting decrease in global temperatures can continue for more than a decade – enough to correct agricultural systems around the world, according to scientists.

In addition to the black carbon, the authors examined the potential exposure to the ultraviolet plants of the plants. Ozone usually blocks the earth this type of radiation, but this preventive layer will be weakened in the wake of the nuclear war. Since ultraviolet radiation-B damage to DNA damage and obstruction of vegetarian optical representation, the researchers have designed how excessive exposure to the energy source can affect the soil system and vanity that drives crop growth.

The results were annoying. First, the “best scenario of the best situation”, a regional nuclear war, will affect enough press release. On the other hand, the World War is widely pumped 165 million tons of soot into the air, achieving 80 % global corn production.

This was not all; Radiation damage “its peak in the 8th and 9th years” after the initial bombing of the bomb, causing an additional decrease of 7 % in the corn yield, according to the paper. “The explosion and the fiery ball of atomic explosions produce nitrogen oxides in the stratosphere,” Shi explained. This, in conjunction with heat-absorbing soot, pumps a gunfire in the atmosphere that “quickly (destroys) ozone, increases UV-B levels on the surface of the earth.”

Fortunately, this is just a simulation. However, “they force us to realize the fragility of the biomas – the entirety of all living organisms and how they interact with each other and the environment.” Moreover, the study works as an early sects for a more accurate and effective response plan for potential disasters.

We hope this catastrophe is nuclear – although it can be like volcanic eruption, which hinders the sun’s rays in a similar way and is something we can prepare for better. For example, the paper recommended the preparation of “agricultural flexibility groups” that contain seeds for crops that can grow under cooler conditions.

“These groups will help maintain food production during the unstable years after the nuclear war, while supply and infrastructure chains are recovering,” said Armin Keiman, an expert on environmental systems and paper author, in the same version. But these groups can easily help food security in areas affected by severe volcanic activity.

Natural disasters are out of our control, except for the preparatory part. This environmental catastrophe that has self-binding and global famine-is clearly another story. Scientists wrote that “the best approach to preventing its destructive effects is to avoid it” when it comes to a nuclear winter, “the best approach to preventing its devastating effects is to avoid this.”