The document discusses nuclear weapons, their types, functioning, and their severe implications on health, environment, and international relations. It highlights how nuclear arsenals contribute to global tensions and the potential catastrophic effects of nuclear warfare, including long-term health issues from radiation exposure and environmental devastation. The urgency of the situation is emphasized by the recent movement of the doomsday clock forward, indicating a rising risk of nuclear conflict.

1. By: Courtney Carter
NUCLEAR WEAPONS: THEIR EFFECT
ON US & OUR WORLD

2. WHAT ARE NUCLEAR WEAPONS?
By definition: a bomb or missile that uses nuclear energy to cause
an explosion
• There are two types of nuclear weapons: the fission bomb & the
thermonuclear bomb
• Most nuclear weapons today are two-stage thermonuclear weapons
that use both fission & fusion.
• Countries known to have thermonuclear weapons are:
the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, France
• Countries known to have fission weapons are:
India, Pakistan, Israel

3. HOW NUCLEAR WEAPONS WORK
Fission: Fusion:
Like nuclear power stations, fission releases big
quantities of energy by splitting large unstable elements
like uranium or plutonium.
A fission bomb sets off the fusion bomb, which
also triggers another atomic bomb, which
makes it a bomb inside a bomb.

4. HOW NUCLEAR WEAPONS EFFECT US SOCIALLY
The world’s major superpowers, along with the other smaller countries that have
nuclear weapons in their possession puts a strain on relations between one or a few
countries when problems or war arises between two nuclear-enabled states. (i.e. Cuban
Missile Crisis)
Each country that possess nuclear weapons spent
millions of taxpayer/government dollars to create,
build, & protect their respective weapons. This is
money that could have been spent on other public
services like public education, job creation or
healthcare.

5. NUCLEAR WEAPONS COULD EFFECT OUR HEALTH
• The families of those who died from the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
along with the other citizens who lived are proof that nuclear weapons are very
harmful to human health.
• The ones who survived
the initial blast from
the bomb were subject
to the long term
effects of radiation.
• A few of the known health conditions that nuclear weapons caused for these
survivors:
 Nausea, vomiting, & diarrhea
 Cataracts
 Hair Loss
 Blood Cell Loss
 Increased risk of cancer, leukemia, & birth defects

6. NUCLEAR WEAPONS WOULD HAVE
DETRIMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
• Richard Turco of UCLA said detonating between 50 and 100 bombs - just
0.03% of the world's arsenal - would throw enough soot into the atmosphere to
create climactic anomalies unprecedented in human history.
• This means that by just two countries dropping small numbers of their bombs
on each other would have catastrophic effects on our climate, can you imagine
if the every country who possesses nuclear weaponry also set off their bombs
in response?
• According to research & science these are a few of the environmental effects
of a nuclear war were to break out:
 Global temperatures would crash
 Most of the world would be unable to grow crops for more that 5 years
after a conflict
 The ozone layer would be depleted by 40% over many inhabited areas
and up to 70% at the poles
• According to Alan Robock, Nuclear weapons are the greatest environmental
danger to the planet from humans, not global warming or ozone depletion.

7. PLEASE CLICK ON LINK BELOW
TO WATCH THE VIDEO!!!
What Countries Have Nuclear Weapons?- YouTube video

8. SO SHOULD WE BE SCARED?
• YES. Most definitely.
• The USSR and the United States are actually “modernizing” their nuclear
arsenals, which only makes the possibility of nuclear war more likely.
• In January of this year, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Science and
Security Board moved the symbolic Doomsday Clock forward to 11:57,
where 12:00 signifies the apocalypse. This means they think the world
has probability of having a global catastrophe.
HOW YOU’RE INVOLVED
• While we as individuals can’t do much to prevent our world from nuclear
destruction, we can be advocates against nuclear weapon use by speak
our opinions on the matter and writing our legislatures.
• You can also help yourself by preparing your family and home in case of a
nuclear attack. (i.e. first aid kits, stocking up on non-perishable foods,
storing water, & coming up with a plan if nuclear war does happen.

9. WORKS CITED
• "Acute Radiation Syndrome." Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias. Academic. Web. 7
June 2015.
• Alter, Charlotte. "Global Apocalypse Is Just Three Minutes Away." Time. Time, 23 Jan.
2015. Web. 10 June 2015.
• Barash, David. "Should We Still Be Afraid of Nuclear War? - We Have Become Dangerously
Habituated to the Threat of Nuclear War. by David Barash - Aeon Ideas." Aeon
Ideas. Aeon Ideas Beta. Web. 7 June 2015.
• Frankel, Max. "Learning from the Missile Crisis." Smithsonian. Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Oct.
2002. Web. 8 June 2015.
• Harris, William, Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D. and John Fuller. "How Nuclear Bombs Work" 05
October 2000. HowStuffWorks.com. 09 June 2015. Web. 4 June 2015.
• "How Does a Nuclear Bomb Work ?" Guernseydonkey.com. General Interest, Science, 24 Feb.
2012. Web. 4 June 2015.
• "How to Survive a Nuclear Attack." WikiHow. Mediawiki. Web. 9 June 2015.
• Jha, Alok. "Climate Threat from Nuclear Bombs." Theguardian.com. The Guardian, 12 Dec.
2006. Web. 4 June 2015.
• "Nuclear Weapons: How They Work (2010)." Union of Concerned Scientists. Union of
Concerned Scientists, 1 Apr. 2010. Web. 4 June 2015.
• Tucker, Jasmine. "Here Are Better Ways To Spend $1 Trillion Than On Nuclear Weapons."
Campaign For America's Future. 30 Sept. 2014. Web. 8 June 2015.