Nuclear War Threat Looms amid the Russia-Ukraine War; Nuclear Winter Explored

Nuclear winter is known to be a theoretical human-caused global climatic condition from a nuclear war where smoke blankets our atmosphere and blocks the sunlight, causing a so-called global cooling effect.

Concerns of nuclear winter are growing due to a potential nuclear war amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

Based on previous studies and theories, a nuclear explosion will likely have certain biological and environmental hazards due to radiation.

Being a post-effect of a large-scale global nuclear war, a nuclear winter may release smoke and other chemicals that can harm the environment and all living organisms.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February following several weeks of tensions along the Russian-Ukrainian border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called its action in Ukraine a "military operation" and issued a nuclear threat to countries that would interfere.

The Nuclear Winter Theory

(Photo : Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images)

For decades, several scientific theories have emerged to discuss the potential existence of nuclear winter in case a large-scale nuclear war occurred.

Although a nuclear winter has never happened before, scientists explored its potential effects on the planet; to all living organisms, and the environment.

According to an article published in The New York Times in 1990, scientists have coined the term "nuclear winter" in 1983, and it is often called the nuclear winter theory.

Scientists have debated on whether an all-out nuclear war will cause a global chilling effect, also known as a nuclear winter.

The article indicated that nuclear winter theorists may have overestimated the severity of its possible impact.

However, scientists have linked the occurrence of nuclear winter to measurable concepts like the climatic predictions on the effect of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Astronomer Carl Sagan, along with other scientists, realized the concept of a nuclear winter also falls in the field of meteorology and climatology since the potential global chilling effect from a nuclear war will alter and darken the Earth's atmosphere for a prolonged period, as per the Smithsonian Magazine.

The scientists claim that the planet will enter a phase of either cold or freezing temperatures during a nuclear winter.

Fumes of atmosphere-blocking toxic gases and hazardous airborne particles are also possible during this period, with the high probability of killing animals, plants, and humans.

Also read: Japan Nuclear Disaster in 2011 Inspires Switzerland to be Nuclear-Power-Free

Biological and Environment Repercussions

Whether a nuclear winter occurs or not, the immediate impact of a nuclear explosion and its radiation will evidently cause biological and environmental repercussions.

Insights regarding a nuclear blast is relatively abundant since its first usage during World War II.

In 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan as a means to force the Japanese imperial army to surrender.

The initial blast from the bomb approximately killed hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed plants and trees, as per the BBC.

Additionally, the nuclear blast resulted in biological hazards on its survivors. Radiation from the nuclear warhead has led to cases of physical deformities among the survivors and their descendants in the coming decades.

Related article: Russia's Attack on Ukraine Raises Risk of Nuclear War: How Bad Will a Nuclear Fallout Be?