by Emmanuel Olivera Diaz

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Nuclear Weapons

Current events happening in the world are so close to getting into nuclear warfare. Wars have been going on in almost all parts of the world today. Mostly in Aisa and Europe wars have already started and have been going on for almost 2 years now like Russia invading Ukraine and most recently the conflict going on (Israel vs Palestine). Each of these conflicts bring us one step closer to nuclear warfare, they already stated using bombs in these wars. The risk that these wars bring to us is great, Russia owning 45% of nuclear weapons poses a threat in itself but Russia also being in a war with Ukraine is a bigger threat.

Are we Going to war?

War now for the United States is a very real possibility. The United States is connected to Ukraine which makes us a very possible target for Russia if they wanted. Adding to that fact that Russia and the United States don’t have a very well connection and directly oppose NATO. The United States and Russia both own about 90% of the nuclear weapons in the world so if we were to go to war, we would very likely be fought with nuclear weapons.

The present with nuclear weapons

Right now, in the world the biggest thing is the war going on in Israel and Palestine. Although the United States is not directly involved with the conflict it still poses a threat. Israel does own nuclear weapons which can make allied countries of Palestine get involved or allies of Israel. A war like this can cause world wars which once again will involve nuclear weapons but it not likely to happen.

The future with nuclear weapons

The future with these dangerous weapons is something that is very hard to determine because these are nuclear weapons. The use of just a few hundred could leave Earth’s population decimated by a nuclear winter. The risks of nuclear weapons range from nuclear terrorism, or a ‘tactical nuclear’ attack on a single city, which could kill millions of people, to global nuclear war, which could kill billions. The future can change instantly by one going off accidently, these nuclear weapons are something that will just keep getting produced in the future. Nuclear warfare is something that can eventually happen with these weapons still being created. But for now, nuclear weapons being contained is the best option.

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Sources:

“Nuclear Weapons.” Future of Life Institute, 12 Sept. 2023, futureoflife.org/cause-area/nuclear/#:~:text=The%20use%20of%20just%20a,war%2C%20which%20could%20kill%20billions.

“Nuclear Weapons Worldwide.” Union of Concerned Scientists, www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-weapons/worldwide#:~:text=Nine%20countries%20possess%20nuclear%20weapons,is%20close%20to%2013%2C000%20weapons. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.

“Status of World Nuclear Forces.” Federation of American Scientists, 10 Apr. 2024, fas.org/issues/nuclear-weapons/status-world-nuclear-forces/.

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