Small Nuclear War Could Reverse Global Warming for Years!

DATELINE ZERO – Just a small nuclear war could reverse warming trends for years, say (I sometimes cringe at the word) “experts.”

Is there such thing as a small nuclear war? I guess so. But to minimize something so horrid seems obscene. It’s like talking about “just a little” genocide. Horrific.

Scientists from NASA and a number of other institutions have recently been modeling the effects of a war involving a hundred Hiroshima-level bombs, or 0.03 percent of the world’s current nuclear arsenal, according to National Geographic. The research suggests five million metric tons of black carbon would be swept up into the lowest portion of the atmosphere.

The result, according to NASA climate models, could actually be global cooling. According to the article:

The global cooling caused by these high carbon clouds wouldn’t be as catastrophic as a superpower-versus-superpower nuclear winter, but “the effects would still be regarded as leading to unprecedented climate change,” research physical scientist Luke Oman said during a press briefing Friday at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C.

Earth is currently in a long-term warming trend. After a regional nuclear war, though, average global temperatures would drop by 2.25 degrees F (1.25 degrees C) for two to three years afterward, the models suggest.

If that’s eliciting a WTF response from you, you’re not alone. Let’s keep a wary eye on events in the Middle East and elsewhere, shall we?