Effects of Nuclear Weapons Essay Sample

Nuclear weapon's mere existence threatens all of mankind's survival. County's nuclear weapons in the modern-day world are too effective for so many of them to exist. Globally, nuclear weapons' capacity should be limited. The capacity of these weapons around the world ought to be limited because of the effects on ecosystems after a nuclear war, these weapons will only continue to get worse, and the damage of nuclear war is too great. 

First, the effects of a nuclear war. According to a focus article by Alan Robock, he explained some of the effects on the ocean after a nuclear conflict. While talking about what people could do after a nuclear conflict he stated, “One might think that the ocean shore would be a good place to survive because the temperatures would not fall as much, and there would be plenty of food to catch. Although the ocean would not cool very fast, the darkness would decimate the phytoplankton, which are at the base of the oceanic food chain. That, combined with toxic and radioactive pollution, would severely limit the food sources in the oceans. Furthermore, the large temperature contrasts between the oceans and the land would produce strong storms that would make fishing difficult at best” (Robock 424). Showing how catastrophic the effects of nuclear weapons are by explaining how much damage is done to the ocean which was indirectly affected. On top of that, according to Our Fluid Earth, “The ocean affects every human life. It supplies freshwater and oxygen, moderates the climate, influences our weather, and affects human health. Humans rely on the ocean for food and transportation” (OFE). Proving the ocean is essential to human life, making the effects of a nuclear conflict even more devastating. Showing how the effects of a nuclear war are far too devastating for so many nations to have this power and thus the capacity of nuclear weapons ought to be lowered globally.

Second, nuclear weapons will only become more destructive and threaten more human life than ever. While comparing the nuclear bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to modern-day nuclear weapons Stephanie Pappas stated, “Many modern weapons, though, have the potential to do even worse damage. Thermonuclear, or hydrogen, bombs use the power of the initial fission reaction to fuse hydrogen atoms within the weapon. This fusion reaction kicks off yet more neutrons, which create more fission, which create more fusion, and on and on. The result, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, is a fireball with temperatures that match the heat of the center of the sun” (Pappas). This evidence shows how far weapons of mass destruction have come since their first use. Showing the fast and concerning evolution of a weapon that could threaten all human existence. And thus we ought to limit the amount of nuclear bombs around the world and put restrictions on further research, as it’s in the best interest of mankind. 

Third, the damages of a nuclear war are too great. Modern-day nuclear weapons cost far too much human life and damage to ever reasonably be used. According to SGR, “Over cities, the consequences of exploding just one nuclear warhead are so extreme that leading medics, aid agencies including the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and several studies have concluded that an effective medical and humanitarian response would be impossible. Modern nuclear weapons are up to 50 times more powerful than the single atomic bombs which devastated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945” (SGR). Not to mention that all of the land that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were built on, is still unusable today. To back that up, Moti Nissani stated, “Some 15 percent of the bomb's energy is taken up by ionizing radiation…radiation is perhaps the most frightening direct effect of nuclear explosions. We can sense blast, heat, and fire, but we can't detect ionizing radiation without the aid of special instruments; we can be irradiated to death without knowing it. Unlike fire and blast, ionizing radiation not only damages our health, but, through its potential impact on fetuses and on reproductive cells, it may damage the health of our descendants. Though the heat and the blast wreak incredible havoc, their direct effects are gone within seconds, or, in the case of the fires they cause, within hours or days. In contrast, poisonous radioactivity may linger for years”. Showing how unreasonable the use of nuclear weapons is. As we're still suffering from the effects of the only nuclear bombs ever used, which was nearly 8 decades ago. And if we were going to use a nuclear bomb today, the effects would be 50 times worse. Proving that the damage of nuclear bombs is far too great for so many to exist and thus the amount of nuclear weapons globally ought to be lowered.

Nuclear weapons threaten all of mankind and it’s time that we do something to put the interest of mankind above the interests of nations. Therefore we ought to limit the physical amount of nuclear bombs nations can have and the amount of research dedicated to them. As nuclear weapons have shown to have devastating impacts on people and the environment, and not to mention that nuclear weapons today can cause firebombs the temperature of the sun. And thus it’s time to put mankind’s survival over nations’ wants and start doing something about the weapons of mass destruction threatening us all.