Nuclear bombs are capable of killing millions upon millions of people in mere seconds.

History can show us the carnage nuclear warheads can cause on the human race. A killing
machine, that is the nuke, consists of a complex set of parts and reactions inside. The reaction
that occurs inside is so incredibly lethal, equalling to over 1000 pounds of TNT. Not only does a
nuke affect humans, but the environment surrounding the explosion as well. The environment
today is still being affected by nuclear explosions from the past. Nuclear weapons are capable
of inflicting major damage wherever it touches.
Countries all around the world are racing to manufacture their own nuclear weapons
program to have the upper hand; which is why it is important to have (some) knowledge of what
a nuke is. According to William Harris, Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D., and John Fuller, nuclear
bombs are created by either nuclear fission or nuclear fusion (the two basic ways that nuclear
energy can be released from an atom). Nuclear fission, the most common type of bomb, occurs
when the nucleus splits into two smaller fragments in a neutron. Nuclear fusion is when two
smaller atoms come together to form a larger one. In both reactions, large amounts of heat
energy and radiation are emitted. Eventually scientists researched ways in which to start a chain
reaction that would release an enormous amount of energy. Thus the nuke was born. Most
nuclear bombs now are fission reaction based because the reaction is easier to control and
manipulate in research labs.
Lets take a closer look at the fission nuclear bomb more closely, for they are much more
common. As I mentioned before, fission occurs when the nucleus splits and releases a
tremendous amount of energy. In an atomic explosion, the fission process becomes self-
sustaining as neutrons produced by the splitting atom strike nearby nuclei and produce more
fission (having a chain reaction).
Little Boy and Fat Man are the only two atomic bombs that have been used on a civilian
population. Little Boy was a fission atomic bomb, while the Fat Man was a fusion atomic bomb.
Both wiped out entire cities with devastating effects. Not only were tens of thousands of people
killed, but the environment was impacted as well. According to Alok Jha, global temperatures
crash and most of the world would be unable to grow crops for more than five years after a
conflict where nukes were being dropped. This is just one of many facts about how the
environment is affected.
People can be really be really affected from the explosion of a nuclear bomb. History can
show us what happens. The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
destroyed entire cities, and ultimately ended the war (with a bang) for the United States. Both
the radioactivity and the explosion killed thousands upon thousands of people in Japan.
 Nuclear bombs are able to have major impacts on both the environment and on people.
It is important to learn about because nuclear weapons can cause major catastrophes.

Jha, Alok. "Climate Threat from Nuclear Bombs." Thegaurdian. 12 Dec. 2006. Web. 10 May
2015.

"The Science Behind the Atom Bomb." Atomic Heritage Foundation. Web. 10 May 2015.

Harris, William, Craig Freudenrich, and John Fuller. "How Nuclear Bombs Work."
HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com. Web. 10 May 2015.