The Environmental Impact of a Nuclear Explosion

Wasiq has raised some important questions about long-term

environmental impact. I purposely focused on

the immediate impact and the direct human effect

because of the popular nature of the piece.

surveys conducted by environmental groups reveal that surprisingly

not many people in the sub-continent are familiar

with the immediate impact effects (hence my focus).

I do not have all the answers to your questions because

the ecosystem response varies greatly from location to location.

Some of your questions are tangentially addressed in the article

eg. climatic change and the release of pyrotoxins,

carcinogenesis etc.

The late astronomer/ public intellectual Carl Sagan

coauthored a good book on the phenomenon of ``nuclear winter``

and other long-term climatic impacts of nuclear

explosions.

Regarding your implict assertion about the resilience of

the Earth against a cataclysmic events -- Yes, the Earth can

probably withstand a nuclear war (asteroid impacts have beeen

documented through crater scars that may be much more powerful

than a nuclear bomb) in the long-term (probably a period of a

few centuries would be enough for a sufficient ``recovery``)

However, is that really a tolerable scenario?

Regards

Saleem

The Environmental Impact of a Nuclear Explosion In response to the previous comment, I did provide a short biographical sketch, but somehow it didn`t get posted: Anyhow here it is again:

Saleem Ali is a doctoral candidate in environmental planning and a Martin Sustainabiity Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He obtained a Bachelor`s degree in Chemistry and Environmental Studies from Tufts University and Masters degree in Environmental Studies from Yale University. Before starting his doctoral work at MIT, Saleem worked at General Electric as an environmental ``engineer`` and has also held research assistantships at the Smithsonian Institution, Harvard Business School, the British House of Commons and Center for Rainforest Studies (Australia).