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BenjaminWasden
Ms.Gardner
HonorsEnglish10FourthPeriod
6May2016
SweptIntotheSecondColdWar
InJulyof1945,theworldwasintroducedtoaterrifyingweapon,onethatisas
destructiveasthefiresthatdestroyedSodomandGomorah.Thisdevice,nowknowasthe
atomicbomb,wasfirstdetonatedaspartoftheTrinityTest,producinganexplosiveyield
equivalenttofifteenthousandtotwentythousandtonsofTNT(Groves).Laterthatsameyear,
theUnitedStatesdeployedtwoequivalentlysizedbombsonHiroshimaandNagasaki,Japan.
ThedevastationfromtheseattacksledEmperorHirohitotoaccepttermsofsurrender,stating
thattheenemyhasbeguntoemployanewandmostcruelbomb,thepowerofwhichtodo
damageisindeedincalculable.Thedestructionofthetwocitieswassogreatthatheremarked
thatShouldwecontinuetofight...itwouldleadtothetotalextinctionofhumancivilization
(Hirohito).Atomicandnuclearweaponsareweaponsofmassdestruction,meaningthattheyare
weaponsintendedtodistributedeathonalargescale(WeaponsofMassDestruction).Nuclear
weaponscausenotonlythedestructionofbuildings,butalsocausethedeathofmanypeople.
Theradiationthatcoversanareaduetothesedetonationscanmakeaplaceuninhabitablefor
generationstocome.Becauseeverycountryhasamultitudeofnuclearweaponspreparedtofire
atanygivenmoment,theendofmankindisassimpleasflippingaswitch.EvenwiththeTreaty
ontheNonproliferationofNuclearWeapons,westillfacetheriskofanuclearwaroutbreaking.
Nuclearposetoogreatofathreattoourcivilizationthetremendouspower,thedevastationof


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Earth,andthepossibilityoftheendofhumanitymakeitnotamatterofifweshouldremove
them,butwhenwewillremovethem.
Tosome,nuclearweaponsseemtobeanintelligentadditiontoourarsenal,duetothe
factthattheyaregoodretaliationdevices.DuringtheColdWar,ournuclearweaponsarewhat
keptusfromgettinginadangerousconfrontationwiththeSovietUnion,astheyrealizedan
attackagainstuswouldresultinaretaliationagainstthem.Peoplealsopointoutthatthethreats
wereceivetodayareasdangerousasthoseduringtheColdWar(Monroe).Disarmament
treatiesalsoprovidenosolace,astheyarebrokenonaregularbasisbycountries(Brookhiser).
Theyarguethatweneedtobepreparedforanythingandeverything.Whileitistruethatnuclear
weaponswouldallowustoprotectourselvesinafight,itisalsotruethattheexistenceofnuclear
weaponsiswhatdrivesustoneedthem.Yes,theUnitedStatesandtheSovietUnionhaving
nuclearweaponsiswhatpreventedonesidefromdeployingthemhowever,duringthistime
period,thecubanmissilecrisisoccurred.Theexistenceofnuclearweaponsneareachofthose
countriescausedtensionthatnearlyleadtoathirdworldwarhowever,itwasabletoberesolved
peacefully(CubanMissileCrisis).Thereasonthatthiseventhappenedwasbecausetheir
nuclearweaponsexistedandwereclosetoeachother.Becausethissituationendedwiththe
removaloftheseweapons,wearestillabletoliveonthesurfaceofEarth.
Truthfully,nuclearweaponswouldallowustopreventconflictsbyfrighteningtheother
sideoutofdeployingone.However,thereisalwaysthepossibilitythatanuclearweaponcould
accidentally(orpurposefully)bedeployed,leadingustoathirdWorldWaranddestroyinglife
asweknowit.In1979,wehadaclosecallwiththelaunchofanuclearweapon.Oursensorsat
NORAD,theNorthAmericanAerospaceDefensesystem,detectedthatalargescaleSoviet


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missileattackwasunderway.Duetosatelliteinformationfailingtoconfirmthisattack
however,wedecidedagainstfiring(CloseCallswithNuclearWeapons).Basedonthisevent,
onecanseethatafalsealarmcancauseanaccidentonamassivescaletooccur.Itdoesseem
hopeless.Wefeelasifwecannotdoanythingtostopourseeminglyinevitablefate.Rose
Gottlemoeller,apersonunderthesecretaryforarmscontrolandInternationalsecurity,
mentionedthatinordertotrulystopnuclearwarfare,wehavetobeawarethatwecanstopit
(Gottemoeller).Ifeveryoneknowsofthedevastationthatthesedevicescause,itwouldbe
relativelyeasytoremovetheseweaponsofmassdestruction.
Ultimately,atomicandnuclearweaponswouldleadtoacatastrophicwarthatwould
unravelbothsocietyaswellasEarth.Forone,anuclearwinterwouldbecaused.Inaddition,the
radiationcausedbyanuclearweaponcanmakeaplaceuninhabitableforthousandsofyearsto
come.Chernobyl,amelteddownnuclearreactor,failedin1986,causingmanypeopletodie
andmanymoretobeexposedtoradiationpoisoning.Becauseofthis,Chernobylwillnotbesafe
toventureintountilaroundtheyear22,000(ChernobylAccident1986).Thefactthat
Chernobylwillnotbesafetogotountil22,000givesusanestimatetohowlongwewillhaveto
stayundergroundifanuclearwarcommenced.Ifwecannotreturntoabovegroundfor
thousandsofyearsafterthewar,thenaretheirminorbenefitstodayreallyworththelongterm
risks?
Alongwiththeshorttermeffects,nuclearweaponsalsoleaveuswiththepossibilityofa
nuclearwinter.Anuclearwinterissimilartoaregularwinter,exceptthatitlastsformany,
manymoreyearsandcausesdrasticchangestotheclimate.Nuclearweaponswillalsodrop
temperaturesglobally,leadingtodestroyedcrops,aglobalfamine,andabandonedcivilizations.


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Researchhasstatedsomeratherunsettlingfactsaboutthekindofdevastationanuclearwinter
couldcause:
EvenwiththereducednucleararsenalsthattheUnitedStatesandRussiaagreed
toin2010,wehavetheabilitynotonlytosetoffinstantaneousdestruction,but
alsotopushglobaltemperaturesbelowfreezing,eveninsummer.Cropswould
dieandstarvationcouldkillmostofhumanity.Butitisnotjustthesuperpowers
thatthreatentheplanet.Anuclearwarbetweenanytwocountriesusing100
Hiroshimasizeatombombs,lessthanhalfofthecombinedarsenalsofIndiaand
Pakistan,couldproduceclimatechangeunseeninrecordedhumanhistory.
(Robock)
Societywouldcollapseasaresultofthesedrasticchanges.Allofthesenegativeeffects
addtothereasonsastowhynuclearweaponsshouldberemovedfromourarsenals.
Inconclusion,nuclearweaponsposeaviablethreattoourexistenceandshouldnotbea
weaponusedbyanynation.Theywouldstripusoftherelativesafetyweenjoynow,leavingus
intheiceagewithnosurfaceofEarthtouse.Nuclearweaponsdestroynotjustnations,butour
personallivesaswell.Fromtheclosecalls,thenuclearwinter,andthepossibilityofthe
destructionofEarthandhumanity,itseemsquitereasonabletoquestionwhywehavethese
weaponsofmassdestruction.Thedangertheyposeisquitereal,astheworldhas15,350nuclear
warheadsreadytofireatanygivenmoment(NuclearArsenals).Iftheseareriskswewantto
taketomaintainoursenseofsecurity,thensobeit.Ifweremovethemfromourarsenals,thenwe
havethepotentialtobecomemuchmorethanwearenownottobeadistressed,hopeless
speciesonadistressed,hopelessplanet.


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