It seems like today’s politicians have forgotten the horrors of nuclear weapons.  Modern nukes are “more than 3000 times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima”(Bennet, Jay).  Even though it was comparatively weak compared to modern nukes, it still killed about 185,000 people(Reference).  A nuclear war would be catastrophic for the human race. Even when your country is the one dropping the bombs, millions of innocent civilians will die.  Countries should begin the process of destroying their nuclear weapons. How are nuclear weapons different from standard weapons?

Nuclear weapons are targeted towards civilians.  Conventional weapons target enemy forces. Guns, drone strikes, and tanks are all meant to defeat the enemy.  They are precise. They cause destruction, but not mass destruction. They are used to fight the enemy army. Nuclear weapons are different.  They are used to kill and injure as many civilians as possible. Nuclear weapons don’t care if the person isn’t involved in the war. They don't care if they have their hands up in surrender.  They don’t care if the person even supports the war. There is never any reason for killing as many innocent people as nukes do. Nuclear weapons are used in a fundamentally different way than other weapons are used. 

    Are they really that bad?  Yes. in fact, they are probably worse than you think they are.  A nuclear war would be the worst possible event for humans except for an asteroid impact or supervolcano. Even climate change is dwarfed compared to this immense risk.  The black soot would lower the global temperature by 2.2℉(Wunderground) If the US and Russia used their nuclear weapons, the soot blown into the atmosphere would “blacken the skies for seven years” and “drop Earth’s average temperature by 8C” (Satherley, Dan).   “Crops would fail and it would be too cold for a lot of things to happen” (Green, Melanie). This will cause a mass extinction event that will end many, if not all humans. Nuclear war should be avoided at all costs.  

    Many people still think nuclear weapons are still useful tools that should be used.  They believe mutually assured destruction is a good tactic. In reality, this only creates needless tension between countries.  In a nuclear war, there are no winners. The countries lose. The hundreds of millions of people who had nothing to do with the war lose.  Nukes are a consistent threat to the human species. This power shouldn't be in the hands of anyone. Especially not presidents who don't have our best interests at heart.  In a world without nukes, we all could be less concerned about politicians starting a nuclear war. All it takes is one impulsive president who doesn’t understand the implications of a nuclear war to destroy the human race.  It doesn't have to be like this, it's time to make a change! It’s time to destroy the world’s nuclear weapons. Let’s remove a major source of existential fear from our lives. The world finally has something it can agree on.  191 States have already joined the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons treaty (United Nations). This includes the 5 nuclear-weapon states. Together we might be able to make the world a safer place for humanity. Let’s end the fear. Let’s end the tension between the world. Let's end nuclear weapons.  Contact a politician or join the movement at notonukes.org.

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Works Cited

Bennett, Jay. “Here's How Much Deadlier Today's Nukes Are Compared to WWII A-Bombs.” Popular Mechanics, Popular Mechanics, 15 Feb. 2018, popularmechanics.com/military/a23306/nuclear-bombs-powerful-today/, Accessed 28 October 2019.

Green, Melanie. “20 Shocking Facts About Nuclear Winter.” Theclever, Theclever, 16 May 2017, theclever.com/20-shocking-facts-about-nuclear-winter/, Accessed 28 October 2019.

Satherley, Dan. “How Bad Would a Nuclear War between the US and Russia Be?” Newshub, 16 Aug. 2019, newshub.co.nz/home/world/2019/08/how-bad-would-a-nuclear-war-between-the-us-and-russia-be.html, Accessed 28 October 2019.

“Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) – UNODA.” United Nations, United Nations, un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/npt/, Accessed 28 October 2019.

“How Many People Died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?” Reference, IAC Publishing, reference.com/history/many-people-died-hiroshima-nagasaki-160e08498d00616e.

“The Effect of Nuclear War on Climate.” Weather Underground (10.226.231.67), wunderground.com/resources/climate/nuke.asp.