Two scientific studies modelling the effects of nuclear war released in the past few weeks have revealed some terrifying figures:
- 91.5 million deaths in a matter of hours, if nuclear conflict breaks out between the United States and Russia,
- 125 million deaths in case of a week-long conflict between India and Pakistan using 100 kilotonne nuclear warheads,
- A 30% reduction in surface sunlight due to the 36 teragrams of black carbon released into the atmosphere after the India-Pakistan conflict,
- Two billion people at risk of famine.
The two studies, Princeton’s Science and Global Security programme “Plan A” [ 1] and Science Advances’ Rapidly expanding nuclear arsenals in Pakistan and India portend regional and global catastrophe [ 2], show that there is no such thing as a contained nuclear conflict.
These are not farfetched scenarios. This new research comes out as tensions are increasing between India and Pakistan, and four of the nine nuclear-armed states have tested nuclear missiles in just the past two weeks. [3, 4] You can read more about this new research here.
The science is clear: we need to eliminate nuclear weapons, before they are used again.
And ICAN is creating the pathway to a world free of nuclear weapons. Thanks to campaigners in more than 100 countries, we are on our way.
- 79 countries have signed the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to date.
- 32 states – representing over 660 million people – have also ratified the treaty. This means we’ve nearly reached two-thirds of the way to the 50 ratifications needed for the treaty to enter into force. [5]
- Cities like Los Angeles, Sydney, Paris, Manchester, Berlin, Oslo, Washington DC, Edinburgh, Zurich, Tokyo, Toronto and many more are supporting the Treaty and urges their governments to join it.
- Over 1,300 parliamentarians around the world have pledged to supporting the Treaty and work for their government to join it.