A disturbing new study published this week estimates that five billion people will starve to death in the event of a nuclear war breaking out between Russia and the United States.
The researchers explain that the huge amounts of soot that will be emitted in the explosions will cause severe disruptions in the global climate, resulting in limiting food production on land and at sea.
The study was published in the journal "Nature Food".
Although this is the largest nuclear war imaginable - the scientists also looked at what would happen in smaller wars and found that billions could still die because of the consequences for the global food system.
In the study, we examined six different scenarios while predicting the total food calories that would be available in each country after the war after the consumption of stored food stocks.
The study estimates that more than two billion people could die from a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, and more than five billion people could die in a war between the US and Russia.
Russian President Putin.
He insisted that he was against such a war, photo: AP
Thus, for example, the researchers discovered that the smallest nuclear scenario would lead to a reduction in the world's average food production at a rate of seven percent within five years.
In the event of a larger nuclear war - between the US and Russia - it is estimated that food production will be reduced by 90% within 3-4 years.
Biden.
Will it prevent a nuclear war in the world?, Photo: AP
Further to this, the researchers estimate that within two years 75% of the world's population will starve.
Alan Roebuck, one of the study's editors, stated that they understand that a nuclear war of any size would wipe out the world's food systems and lead to the death of billions.
The mushroom of smoke over Hiroshima in Japan after the nuclear bombing in World War II, photo: Archive, AP
"The data shows us one thing: we have to prevent a nuclear war from happening," said a professor of climate science at the University of New Jersey.
The study found that the reduction in crops will be particularly severe in the US and Russia, and may also have a devastating effect on countries in Africa and the Middle East that depend on food imports.
An optimistic point is that in a document published in January under the title "Preventing a nuclear war and an arms race", the five world powers promised to make the issue their top priority.
The US, Russia, China, Great Britain and France emphasized at the time that they consider avoiding war between states with nuclear weapons and reducing strategic risks as their primary responsibility. However, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, the global system has experienced a significant upheaval.
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