Scientists have revealed exactly what a ‘nuclear winter’ would look like if World War Three broke out.
This comes as fears continue to grow around a potential third World War as global tensions increase.
Experts based in Pennsylvania have shared their thoughts on what a nuclear winter might actually look like.
The term was coined to describe the aftermath of a nuclear war where a hypothesized severe and prolonged global climatic cooling effect could occur on Earth, due to the widespread fires caused by nuclear explosions.
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It’s thought that the dust accumulated from the catastrophe could block out sunlight, meaning there would be a serious drop in climate temperatures around the world.
This would result in crop failures and lead to the starvation of billions of people up to eight years after the war, according to scientists.
Yuning Shi, who is a plant scientist at Penn State University and a study author, said: “If we want to survive, we must be prepared, even for unthinkable consequences.”
Shi went on to warn: “The presence of both nitrogen oxides and heating from absorptive soot could rapidly destroy ozone, increasing UV–B radiation levels at the Earth’s surface.
“This would damage plant tissue and further limit global food production.”
In the study, experts predicted how a nuclear winter could cause a failure in the production of corn, which is the most widely planted grain across the globe.
This would be detrimental for humans as well as livestock, with other crops including rice and wheat also expected to fail.
The scientists used computer models to simulate what would happen to corn production in the event of six different nuclear war scenarios.
For various outcomes, the dust that will end up blocking the sunlight ranged from five million to a shocking 165 million tons.
The study was published in the Environmental Research Letter and warns that a nuclear winter as a result of a global nuclear war ‘would be devastating for humanity’.
The study continued: “Nuclear wars would cause an unfathomable loss of life and genetic resources, but also a prolonged nuclear winter that would reduce agricultural area and productivity for years.
“A severe disruption of supply chains and commerce can aggravate this loss of productivity, leading to regional or global famines.
“As the climate recovers, high UV–B radiation could further damage crops, with effects manifesting years after the nuclear conflict.”
The team of researchers went on to warn that ‘the more severe the nuclear war, the deeper the reversion to primitive forms of production as the production ecosystem degrades’.