Nuclear War Research Articles

Reducing the risks of nuclear war: the role of health professionals†.

Reducing the risks of nuclear war: the role of health professionals†.

Reducing the risks of nuclear war: the role of health professionals

Reducing the risks of nuclear war: the role of health professionals

Compellence and batna for the Denuclearization of North Korea

Abstract This article analyzes the denuclearization negotiations with North Korea and recommends options to compel North Korea to denuclearize, focusing on the best alternative to a negotiated agreement (batna) concept. President Trump’s recent denuclearization summit meetings with North Korea failed because he did not employ a batna in his negotiations. A few candidates for the batna are compared and evaluated using criteria of effectiveness and feasibility. This article concludes that military strikes or economic sanctions cannot be relevant as batna s because of North Korea’s success in developing its second-strike nuclear capabilities and probable Chinese support. While South Korea’s nuclear armament does not seem feasible in the short term, another nuclear-sharing arrangement in Northeast or East Asia could be a viable and practical batna. The United States and South Korea should implement this batna gradually, reflecting the degree of the nuclear threat from North Korea.

„Wizualizacja otwarta” jako narzędzie demokratyzacji wiedzy

In this poster I compare two types of visualization that can be distinguished by the role of the viewer. In the first, which I call “closed visualization,” interpretation is seen as a decoding of meanings already set by the author. The other—“open visualization”—sees the viewer as an active co-creator of meanings. In its processual character, open visualization elicits the critical potential of the imagination and is open to new contexts and interpretations. As such, open visualization democratizes the production of knowledge by enabling the critical analysis of the spectator. Instead of the hegemonic production of discourse typical of closed visualization, it introduces a “diagonal perspectivism” that allows problems to be seen from differentiated perspectives. As examples of the mentioned models of visualization I will analyze two projects: Neil Halloran’s The Shadow Peace: The Nuclear Threat and Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas.

Global Discontinuity: Time for a Paradigm Shift in Global Scenario Analysis

The evolutionary paths of social-ecological systems comprise periods of structural continuity punctuated by moments of convulsive change. Various forms of systemic global shock could materialize in the coming decades, triggered by the climate crisis, social disruption, economic breakdown, financial collapse, nuclear conflict, or pandemics. The unfolding COVID-19 pandemic stands as a real-time example of an interruption of historic continuity. More hopefully, deep institutional and cultural shifts could rapidly usher in more resilient forms of global civilization. These plausible possibilities challenge scenario studies to spotlight discontinuous futures, an imperative that has not been adequately met. Several factors—for example, gradualist theories of change, scientific reticence, the lure of quantitative tractability, embeddedness in policymaking processes—have rendered mainstream scenario analysis ill-suited to the task. The emphasis on continuity fails to alert decision makers and the public to the risks and opportunities latent in our singular historical moment. A shift to a paradigm that foregrounds discontinuity is long overdue, calling for efforts to broaden the base of persons involved; devote more attention to balancing narrative storytelling and a broader range of quantitative methods; and apply and develop methods to explicitly consider discontinuities in global scenario development.

Ray Bradbury’s Abiding Influence

Ray Bradbury’s career spanned seven decades and intersected a remarkable, wide-ranging gamut of American cultural history. He was closely associated with Hollywood, where his stories and books were adapted for feature films and television. Adaptations of his work for network radio broadcasts began in 1946 and continued, both at home and abroad, until three years before his passing in 2012. For more than forty years he adapted dozens of his stories for successful stage runs in Los Angeles and occasionally for national venues. But his influence reached even broader cultural stages, writing for radio, film, television, and stage theater production. Throughout his life he defended public libraries and First Amendment rights, and eventually became one of the most prominent public advocates for space exploration. While he is most well-known for his fiction, having published more than four hundred stories and twenty-seven book-length works, including The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, The Golden Apples of the Sun, The October Country, Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Fahrenheit 451, he also engaged real-world issues in his writing, including racial and political intolerance, freedom of the imagination, the threat of nuclear war, the need to fund the American Space program, and the vital importance of literacy.

Reducing the risks of nuclear war: the role of health professionals†.

Reducing the risks of nuclear war: the role of health professionals†.

Reducing the risks of nuclear war: the role of health professionals†.

Reducing the risks of nuclear war: the role of health professionals†.

Reducing the risks of nuclear war: the role of health professionals†.

Reducing the risks of nuclear war: the role of health professionals†.

Reducing the risks of nuclear war: the role of health professionals†.

Reducing the risks of nuclear war: the role of health professionals†.

Reducing the Risks of Nuclear War—the Role of Health Professionals

Reducing the Risks of Nuclear War—the Role of Health Professionals

Global ozone loss following extreme solar proton storms based on the July 2012 coronal mass ejection

Large solar coronal mass ejections pose a threat in the near-Earth space. As a cause of extreme periods of space weather, they can damage satellite-based communications and create geomagnetically induced currents in power and energy grids. Further, the solar wind energetic particles can reduce the protecting layer of atmospheric ozone and pose a threat to life on Earth. The large coronal mass ejection (CME) of July 2012, although directed away from the Earth, is often highlighted as a prime example of a potentially devastating super storm. Here we show, based on proton fluxes recorded by the instruments aboard the STEREO-A satellite, that the atmospheric response to the July 2012 event would have been comparable to those of the largest solar proton events of the satellite era. Significant impact on total ozone outside polar regions would require a much larger event, similar to those recorded in historical proxy data sets. Such an extreme event would cause long-term ozone reduction all the way to the equator and increase the size, duration, and depth of the Antarctic ozone hole. The impact would be comparable to predicted drastic and sudden ozone reduction from major volcanic eruptions, regional nuclear conflicts, or long-term stratospheric geoengineering.

“What a Splendid World We Ruined”: the Precarious Presents and Posthuman Futures of Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and Dmitry Glukhovsky’s Metro 2033

“What a Splendid World We Ruined”: the Precarious Presents and Posthuman Futures of Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and Dmitry Glukhovsky’s Metro 2033

Reducing the risks of nuclear war - The role of health professionals

In January 2023, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock forward to 90 seconds before midnight, reflecting the growing risk of nuclear war. In August 2022, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world is now in “a time of nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War.” The danger has been underlined by growing tensions between many nuclear armed states [...]. Note: this Editorial is being published simultaneously in multiple journals. For the full list of journals see: https://www.bmj.com/content/full-list-authors-and-signatories-nuclear-risk-editorial-august-2023.

Reducing the Risks of Nuclear War—the role of Health Professionals ‎

Reducing the Risks of Nuclear War—the role of Health Professionals ‎

Nuclear Weapon Discussion on G20 Forum

Indonesia holds a key role as host of the G20 Presidency in 2022. Many international media highlighted this summit and the issues that has been discussed inside.As a world economic forum, G20 Presidency in Indonesia also reviewed about the international security issue, one of it is nuclear weapon threat. This study identifies, analyze, and compares the content produced by Indonesia (Kompas.com), United Kingdom (BBC.co.uk), and Saudi Arabia's online news media (aawsat.com), surrounding the frame of nuclear weapons issue on G20 Forum. The study utilizes the framing analysis model of Zhondang Pan and Gerald M. Kosicki, to explain the message that communicated by the three countries related on nuclear weapon issue on G20 summit. The major findings clearly captured that every media adopted different rhetorical frames through the media coverage of the G20 Presidency in Indonesia. Related on nuclear weapon issue, Indonesian media imply a neutral approach, different with UK's media that used straightforward approach or Saudi's media with interior approach.

Reducing the Risks of Nuclear War—the Role of Health Professionals

Reducing the Risks of Nuclear War—the Role of Health Professionals

Armor Piercing Projectiles Based on Depleted Uranium and the Consequences of Their Use for the Environment and People

The intention of the collective West to supply the armed forces of Ukraine with armor-piercing shells with cores (penetrators) made of depleted uranium (DU), is changing the situation in the zone of special military operation (SVO). A new damaging factor is introduced into combat operations – uranium-238 (238U), one of the longest-lived natural radioactive isotopes of uranium. The purpose of the review is to identify the signs and consequences of the use of armor-piercing projectiles based on depleted uranium. Materials and research methods. The sources available through the PubMed, Google Scholar and Russian Electronic Library databases were analyzed. Research results. NATO uses DU in 20-, 25-, 30-, 105-, 120- and 140-mm caliber projectiles. The cores are made from recycled DU, which is a waste from the production of nuclear weapons. Due to man-made isotopes, it is more radioactive than DU from natural uranium. When such a projectile hits an armored object, a large amount of respirable radioactive and toxic dust of black uranium oxides, small fragments and fragments of the penetrator, remaining in the armored vehicles and around it, is formed. One 120 mm projectile produces approximately 950 g of black dust. Almost 99 % of the internal dose received by the military will come from alpha particles, the most dangerous to health. Projectiles that miss their targets sink deep into the soil, their penetrators corrode for decades, releasing soluble uranium compounds into underground water sources. In areas where DU shells were used, mass diseases of «unexplained etiology» are observed among military personnel and civilians, reducing their life expectancy and fertility. Discussion of results and conclusions. The first signs of the use of shells with DU, which can be installed on the battlefield: round holes in the armor of tanks and the presence of solid black dust around them and in the tank itself. In case of fires in the warehouses of such shells, due to other oxidation conditions, crumbling yellow dust is formed. When examining it, it is necessary to pay attention to the presence of elevated concentrations of 236U. The fact that a soldier was hit by DU can be confirmed by the presence of uranium in his urine. The use of DU shells on the territory of the Russian Federation, in terms of its consequences for people and nature, is the use of radiological weapons, a disguised form of nuclear warfare. And it must be treated accordingly.

Modeling of Russian–Ukrainian war based on fuzzy cognitive map with genetic tuning

The Russian–Ukrainian conflict is considered as a dynamic system, whose variables are factors affecting the losses of the Russian army and the threat of the use of nuclear weapons. A fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) is used for modeling, that is, a directed graph whose vertices are model variables, and the weights of arcs are the degrees of positive and negative influences of variables on each other. The following factors influencing the losses of the Russian army and the threat of a nuclear strike were selected: resistance of the Ukrainian army, support of Ukraine with weapons, economic sanctions against Russia, opposition to the Russian government and its self-preservation instinct. The degrees of the influence of factors on each other and on the possibility of using nuclear weapons are evaluated by experts using fuzzy terms, which correspond to numeric values. To adjust the FCM, a genetic algorithm is used to select the degrees of influence of factors that minimize the discrepancy between the simulation results and expert estimations. The obtained FCM is used for scenario modeling of the conflict according to the “what if” scheme and ranking of factors according to their degree of influence on the level of nuclear threat.

THE COMMODIFICATION OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION IN MAD MAX: FURY ROAD: AN ECO-MARXIST ANALYSIS OF WATER CAPITALISM

This research paper presents an Eco-Marxist analysis of the commodification of water resources and environmental degradation as depicted in the film Mad Max: Fury Road.Focusing on the concept of water capitalism, the paper examines how the film portrays the control, exploitation, and unequal distribution of water within a dystopian society. The post-apocalyptic action movie depicts a world that has been devastated by nuclear war, where resources, including water, are scarce. This research paper aims to analyze the intersection of environmental degradation, resource scarcity, and inequality as depicted in the movie through the lens of eco-criticism and Marxist theory. It also demonstrates how the movie criticizes the exploitative practices of capitalism and the demand for a more fair and sustainable system through a detailed examination of the story, characters, dialogues, and ideas.