This book assesses the current available information concerning the major scientific problems related to environmental consequences of a possible nuclear war. The contributors address a broad range of topics, among them the effects of blast, heat, and local radioactive fallout; the likely dispersal patterns and residence times of radioactive debris in the troposphere and stratosphere; the probable long-term effects on both the local and global biosphere and radiological consequences for humans; the effect on the global environment of widespread fires in urban and industrialized regions; and the likely significant decrease of stratospheric ozone with a resulting long-term increase in harmful UV radiation received at the ground. The authors point to problem areas where current information is inadequate or completely lacking and discuss the role of the scientist in developing such information as a contribution to the elimination of the nuclear war threat.
About the Series -- The Environmental Effects of Nuclear WarAn Overview
-- The Short-Term Consequences of Nuclear War for Civilians -- Transport and
Residence Times of Airborne Radioactivity -- Nuclear Explosions and
Atmospheric Ozone -- Radiation Effects on Humans -- The Long-Term Ecological
Effects of Nuclear War: Twilight for the Species? -- Current Unresolved
Problems in the Evaluation of Environmental Effects of Nuclear War -- What
Can the Scientist Do? -- Resolution Passed by the AAAS Council (7 January
1982) -- The Russell-Einstein Manifesto 1955 -- International Council of
Scientific Unions -- Resolution of the National Academy of Sciences (27 April
1982) -- Statement of the American Physical Society Issued by the APS Council
of the American Physical Society, 23 January 1983 -- Resolution Passed by the
AAAS Council (30 May 1983) -- A Statement of the Council of the American
Meteorological Society -- Declaration on Prevention of Nuclear War
Julius London, Gilbert F. White