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Nuclear War: The Human and Ecological Effects
| Article
# : |
10244 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1986 |
4,081 Words |
| Author
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Herbert D. Grover
Herbert D. Grover is visiting associate professor in the
department of biology at the University of New Mexico. |
The future of humankind now rests squarely on the horns of a dilemma. Over the last forty years or so, a handful of nation-states have acquired the technological capability to destroy human civilization and perhaps to threaten the survival of other species with which we share this planet.
The development and deployment of nuclear weaponry has been deliberate and goal-directed. At the superpower level, nuclear armaments are considered the most effective deterrent to conventional and nuclear world war. Yet can we be certain that the correct choices have been made and are being made in configuring these arsenals? How many of what type of weapons are sufficient to effectively deter aggression by either superpower toward the other? In order to answer these and other questions related to nuclear arms policy, we must understand fully the relative costs and benefits (the risk) associated with nuclear weaponry.
A series of reports produced in the late 1960s and during the 1970s examined the potential consequences of nuclear war in terms of health effects on humans and social and economic effects, but these are only a small part of the issue to be considered.
In preceding articles, physical scientists have described the potential effects of multiple nuclear-weapon detonations on the composition of the atmosphere and related potential effects on climate. Knowing these effects is important only if the biological implications of such changes are understood. This article deals with the serious implications of nuclear war for humans and for the other species with which we share this
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