The Effects on the Atmosphere of a Major Nuclear Exchange

The Effects on the Atmosphere of a Major Nuclear Exchange

  • Publisher: National Academies Press
  • ISBN: 9780309035286
  • eISBN Pdf: 9780309554664
  • Place of publication:  United States
  • Year of digital publication: 1985
  • Month: January
  • Pages: 204
  • Language: English

Most of the earth's population would survive the immediate horrors of a nuclear holocaust, but what long-term climatological changes would affect their ability to secure food and shelter? This sobering book considers the effects of fine dust from ground-level detonations, of smoke from widespread fires, and of chemicals released into the atmosphere. The authors use mathematical models of atmospheric processes and data from natural situations—e.g., volcanic eruptions and arctic haze—to draw their conclusions. This is the most detailed and comprehensive probe of the scientific evidence published to date.

  • The Effects on the Atmosphere of a Major Nuclear Exchange
  • Copyright
  • NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
  • Acknowledgments
  • Contents
  • 1 Summary and Conclusions
    • BACKGROUND
    • THE COMMITTEE'S BASELINE CASE
    • NOTES ON THE NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF UNCERTAINTY
    • CONCLUSIONS
    • REFERENCES
  • 2 Recommendations for Research
    • REFERENCES
  • 3 The Baseline Nuclear Exchange
  • 4 Dust
    • NUCLEAR CLOUD DYNAMICS
    • DUST LOFTING BY A NUCLEAR CLOUD
    • SOURCES OF DUST
    • OBSERVATIONS OF NUCLEAR DUST CLOUDS
    • PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS
    • OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF AIRBORNE DUST
    • DUST LOFTED IN THE BASELINE CASE
    • EXCURSIONS
    • SUMMARY
    • REFERENCES
  • 5 Fires
    • OVERVIEW
    • PRESENT-DAY SMOKE EMISSION AND REMOVAL
    • HISTORICAL FIRE EXPERIENCE
      • Earthquakes
      • World War II
      • Forest Fires
      • Experimental fires
    • IGNITION OF NUCLEAR FIRES
      • Thermal phenomena
      • Urban Ignition
      • Forest Ignition
    • BURDENS AND DISTRIBUTIONS OF COMBUSTIBLE MATERIALS
      • Urban Combustibles
      • Forest and Wildland Combustibles
      • Urban Combustibles Consumed
      • Forest and Wildland Fuels Consumed
    • SMOKE EMISSIONS AND PROPERTIES
      • Urban Smoke
        • Emission Factors
        • Size Distribution and Composition
        • Optical Properties
      • Forest Fire Smoke
      • Fire Burning Times
      • Smoke Injection Altitudes
      • Water in Nuclear Clouds
      • Removal from the Plume
    • ESTIMATING SMOKE EMISSIONS IN A MAJOR NUCLEAR EXCHANGE
      • Baseline Estimates
      • Excursions from the Baseline Case
      • Optical Depth Excursions
    • UNCERTAINTIES
    • SUMMARY
    • REFERENCES
    • APPENDIX 5-1: OBSERVATION OF PLUME HEIGHTS AND ASH TRANSPORT IN LARGE FIRES, BY F.E. FENDELL
      • Plume Heights
      • Smoke Obscuration
    • REFERENCES
    • APPENDIX 5-2: WATER IN NUCLEAR CLOUDS
      • Explosion Clouds
      • Fire Plumes
      • Water Perturbation
      • CO2 Perturbation
      • Effects of Water Injections
      • Indirect Water Perturbations
    • REFERENCES
  • 6 Chemistry
    • GASEOUS EMISSIONS FROM NUCLEAR FIREBALLS AND NUCLEAR WAR FIRES
      • Nitric Oxide
      • Fire Emissions
        • Carbon Monoxide
        • Hydrocarbons
        • Oxides of Nitrogen
    • EFFECTS OF EMISSIONS
      • Ozone Shield Reduction
        • Ozone Holes and Effects of NO2 Radiation Absorption
        • Effects on Ozone of Past Nuclear Weapons Tests
        • Uncertainty in Model Results
      • Tropospheric Composition Changes
      • Toxic Chemical Releases
    • REFERENCES
  • 7 Atmospheric Effects and Interactions
    • OVERVIEW
    • EARLY SPREAD AND EVOLUTION OF PARTICULATE CLOUDS
    • DIRECT OPTICAL EFFECTS
    • THERMAL EFFECTS IN ONE-DIMENSIONAL MODELS
    • THERMAL AND CIRCULATION EFFECTS CALCULATED BY MULTIDIMENSIONAL MODELS
    • MODIFICATION OF CLOUDINESS, PRECIPITATION, AND WINDS
      • Ground Fog
      • Cloudiness and Precipitation
      • Zonal Mean Winds
      • Other Large-Scale Wind Systems
      • Ultra-High Clouds
      • Longer Term Effects on Climate
    • ANALOGS
      • Arctic Haze
      • Plumes from Large Forest Fires
      • Early Plume from the Mount St. Helens Eruption
      • Sahara Dust Plumes, the ''Harmattan''
      • Martian Global Dust Storms
    • SUMMARY
    • REFERENCES
  • 8 Use of Climatic Effects of Volcanic Eruptions and Extraterrestrial Impacts on the Earth as Analogs
    • VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
    • EXTRATERRESTRIAL IMPACTS
    • REFERENCES
  • Appendix: Evolution of Knowledge About Long-Term Nuclear Effects
    • REFERENCES
  • Index

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