A potential nuclear war between the United States and Russia would kill 5 billion people, according to a study released Monday from online journal Nature Food.
“We estimate more than 2 billion people could die from nuclear war between India and Pakistan, and more than 5 billion could die from a war between the United States and Russia—underlining the importance of global cooperation in preventing nuclear war,” the study says.
The study uses a climate model to calculate changes found by stratospheric soot injections. The model estimates the productivity of major crops based on global events such as a nuclear war, adding that loadings from such weapons would “cause disruptions” in Earth’s climate.
“More than 5B people would die of hunger following a full-scale nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia, according to a global study led by Rutgers climate scientists [..]’The data tell us one thing: We must prevent a nuclear war from ever happening.’” 😬https://t.co/7ZMO8yKwMn pic.twitter.com/vuJtJs3Rfd
— Nina 🐙 Byzantina (@NinaByzantina) August 16, 2022
“A war between the United States, its allies and Russia—who possess more than 90% of the global nuclear arsenal—could produce more than 150Tg of soot and a nuclear winter,” the study continues. The model used in the article suggests that several aspects of agriculture and livestock would take years to recover should such an amount of soot be injected into the atmosphere. (RELATED: CBS Partially Retracts Documentary About Ukraine War, Missing Military Aid)
The war between Ukraine and Russia is ongoing, and the Pentagon estimates that Russia has suffered approximately 70,000 to 80,000 casualties since its beginning. According to a Scott Rasmussen National Survey, 58% of Americans are “somewhat” or “very worried” the ongoing war in Ukraine could lead to a conflict between the U.S. and Russia.
The US has sent $8.2 billion in assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration, PBS reports, after the White House announced in July it would sent an additional $270 million in military aid to the country.