Hazards of Nuclear Wars

Hazards of Nuclear War Of the many problems that beset the world and mankind, war is one of them. Wars have been fought from the dawn of history to modern-day setting. Generally agreed, they are dangerous, resulting in great loss of property and life. The 20th century has seen two such major wars, in the second of which, for the first time, an atom bomb was used to hasten the end of the war. In spite of witnessing the horrors of war, many powerful nations have not ceased either the accumulation of weapons of war or preparation of war. Their action clearly demonstrates that they do not seem to understand or perhaps, refuse to admit that another war held these days could be disastrous to the world, because each current war proves to be more terrible than the previous one and causes greater destruction. If a third world war should break out, it would surely be fought with nuclear weapons and it is well known to us what the consequences would be. It has been the nature of mankind that whenever any new invention or discovery is made, man tries to find out how such invention can be used for destructive purposes towards the production of a nuclear bomb or different types of nuclear weapons. Almost every powerful nation that does so says that such efforts are taken only for defensive purpose. But against who or what? No one knows. The distrust and suspicion which clouded these nations is responsible for the tension in the present-day world. If these feelings are allowed to grow further, the world might be heading early to its abyss of destruction. Every statesman, politician, economist, educationist, scientist and even the common man must understand that a nuclear war, if it should break out, will cause inconceivable harm and damage to civilisation itself. Since the potentialities of nuclear weapons are developed in secrecy, the hazards that might result from the use of such weapons are indefinite and one can only make a wild guess about the consequences. In the event of such a war, no nation, whatever its ideology may be, can keep out of it. Neutrality or non-alignment policy can no longer be observed. During this intense period, big and small nations, strong and weak ones, will form an alliance, in every possible combination, forgetting all the ideals they have stood fpr. The smaller nations especially, at least for the sake of self preservation, must ally themselves with one big power or the other. The result would be that the war would not be confined to any particular region, but would escalate into a global war and that would be a pity indeed. It is said that the aftermath of the aerial bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have not yet disappeared completely and that many victims who suffer physically and mentally for years because of the nuclear fall out are still living in indescribable pain and agony. If this is the condition after more than 50 years, the consequences of using larger number of bombs and weapons possessing greater destructive power cannot be expressed in words. Deadly diseases are likely to spread over wide areas far from the scene directly affected by the attack. It is likely that miles and miles of city around the affected scene would be turned into a desert and no one might be in a position to come to the aid of the victims. Well, that is if there were any survivors at all. Every nation today is interested in developing its economy. They try to find ways of improving the production of both industrial and agricultural sectors. Sadly, all these efforts would come to nought if there is a global thermo-nuclear war. Agriculture would suffer a huge loss. All the best-laid plans of mice and men as the saying goes would go astray. All cultivation land would lose fertility, crops and grain would be consumed by the “nuclear fire” and would turn to ashes. Death and distress would become common. It would not be a surprise if modern man turns primitive, one who eats his fellowman because there is no food available. National prestige, cultural heritage and all that had been held noble and great during the past few centuries would be matters of the past. The great industrial structures, the many fine buildings and monuments constructed with aesthetic sense and artistic skill would disappear from the face of the earth. It has taken great pains throughout the centuries to improve various means of transport and communications and devices that enhance our quality of life. Those who wish to start another war would set these communication links as their chief targets, to cut off all connections between one region and another. There will be an all-round destruction in such a case. In short, a nuclear war in the future will undo all that have been done so far by great men and women who sacrificed their all to improve the life of their fellow human beings. All civilisations would undoubtedly be destroyed. There would scarcely be a few thousand people inhabiting the world that survive a nuclear holocaust. What has taken the world centuries to accomplish would be destroyed in a few days or months of nuclear war. The world would be back to the days when the survival of the fittest principle rules the life of people. In other words, man would once agin turn a save=age and the work of reconstruction would have to begin all over again from the grass-roots level.