Tag: nuclear weapons

A Nuclear War Agreement

Sometimes we get so enmeshed in the news of the moment, that important news passes us by. Five of the countries  who signed the  Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968,  the US, China, Russia, the UK and France came to an agreement.  They understand that there is no way to win a nuclear war, and further  their pledge includes that a nuclear war must never be fought. Indeed it is agreeing to the obvious. Yet because what may be obvious to the general public and what’s seen by government as in their best interest does not always coincides, it took several months to work out the agreement, often amidst difficult discussions.  And yet, regardless of whether it was agreeing to the obvious, it’s still remarkable that it was agreed upon and issued.

Given the current tensions between the US with both China and Russia, agreeing on anything is certainly noteworthy.  It’s not a panacea and  it’s not going to keep China from invading Taiwan when it wants to or Russia from going further into Ukraine, but perhaps such an agreement could be a factor to at least create a pause for everyone to think through the consequences of aggression, of how far they are willing to provoke. Of course so many nations are after nuclear weapons, and India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea to name but 4 already have them.  That’s a fact that cannot be glossed over. The danger still exists, and the agreement no matter how important it may be does not solve the problem of nuclear arms and nuclear proliferation.

 The agreement is nonetheless an accomplishment, How often in ordinary parlance do we use the phrase ”if we don’t blow ourselves up first.” But for some of us, despite the existence of weapons and of several countries having them, it would seem that when 5 major powers openly declare that nuclear war is not winnable,  we are that much safer.

About Nuclear Weapons

All we need to do to remember the dangers of nuclear weapons is remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki—and not only the dangers to the planet but to humanity. All it would take is one foolish leader, one foolish decision for the world as we know it to be annihilated. At the present moment nine countries have a stockpile of nuclear weapons:

  • Russia 6375
  • US 5800
  • China 320
  • France 290
  • UK 215
  • Pakistan 160
  • India 150
  • Israel 90
  • North Korea 30-40

The list does not include would be nuclear powers such as Iran or even Saudi Arabia. Obviously, the US and Russia are way ahead. At the present they are at loggers heads on the START Treaty. The treaty seeks to limit the deployment of each at 1500, and both actually agree. But the US wants China to be included in the new treaty. China has refused on the ground that since its arsenal is so much smaller than the other two, why should it limit itself and in its view be at a disadvantage? Unless the treaty is renewed by February 2021, it will expire. And if it does the world will be worse off including China. That is because while there would be no limits, there would also be no transparency as to what other countries are up to.  Eight in ten Americans believe in nuclear arms control treaties and most see nuclear arms as a top threat to national security—the others being terrorism and infectious diseases. As important as renewing this treaty may be, fact is that the limit it imposes on its signatories are still high enough to destroy the world. Treaties are needed but the planet would be safer, saner and in a better position to survive to the future  if we would all work towards a nuclear free world.

Where Nuclear Fallout and Climate Change Meet

In 1954 the US conducted nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, 67 tests in fact.  Before leaving they took the radioactive materials and plutonium and buried them under a dome on a low lying atoll. But climate change has come to the Marshall Islands, and the rising seas are a threat to that dome and may destroy it because rising seas could unseal the toxic bomb inside the dome.  But nothing is being done. Meanwhile the Marshallese are experiencing a much higher level of thyroid cancer. Many families are and have been affected. It is safe to say the conditions have created a crisis for them. Climate change is affecting the whole of the islands, no more pristine coral reefs, high water temperatures, as high as 96 degrees, are killing thousands of black angelfish, pufferfish and other marine life, and the rising sea threatens inundations. The government is planning to build sea walls, but how long they will last is not known, nor how long before another nuclear disaster occurs.  Several countries now have nuclear weapons besides the US, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, France, several are on their way like Iran and North Korea, or are now trying to obtain them like Saudi Arabia, not to speak of non-state entities like terrorist groups.  While the Marshall Islands is an example of the consequences of what the pursuit of those weapons and the accompanying testing inevitably entails, they also stand for what happens when the unforeseen happens, when those consequences intersect with climate change and the problems it brings. Hopefully the whole situation and the dangers it poses will be a reminder of how dangerous nuclear weapons are for the world, for the survivors, for the countries involved and for how unpredictable disposing of radioactive materials can be. And perhaps in an oblique way it will also be a reminder of how imperative addressing climate change now is.