PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT  
HUMAN SURVIVAL PROJECT

THE REAL 'END OF THE WORLD':

1000+ NUCLEAR WARHEADS LAUNCHABLE IN MINUTES
OR LESS, KEEPS THE APOCALYPSE FIRMLY ON THE AGENDA

The world is 'supposed' to end tomorrow.


The idea that this is so may well be based on a complete
misinterpretation of the structure of the Mayan calender, and there
is absolutely no concrete evidence, 24 hours beforehand, of any
approaching cataclysm, so hopefully we will all get to experience a
Christmas and a new year.

Nonetheless it is well to reflect on the entirely real possibilities of human
extinction that do exist, even in the absence of any particular
evidence of any of them taking place tomorrow. These include
obviously, large incoming asteroids, plagues possibly caused by
biowarfare, and – at a bit more of a stretch – self –
replicating 'grey goo' produced by nanotechnology, and at an even
bigger stretch, physics experiments that might possibly, maybe, cause
the entire solar system to disappear in a bright flash.

Foremost amongst the threats that are all too real,  almost boringly well-
known, and that will remain on the agenda on 22Dec, is the fact that
the United States and Russia each maintain over 1000 nuclear warheads
each atop ICBMs that are able to be launched in, according to Russian
authorities, 'a few dozens of seconds'.

In 2009, Gareth Evans ICNND noted that:
“Nuclear weapons are the most inhumane weapons ever conceived, inherently
indiscriminate in those they kill and maim, and with an impact deadly
for decades. Their use, by anyone at any time, whether by accident,
miscalculation or design, would be catastrophic. They are the only
weapons ever invented that have the capacity to wholly destroy life
on this planet, and the arsenals we now posses – combining their
blast, radiation, and potential 'nuclear winter' effects – are able
to do so many times over....”

The use of a number of thousands of nuclear weapons, targeted at cities,
(which are the 'default' target of most nuclear weapons), would,
according to the 'Nuclear Winter' research re-done in 2006 by
Professors Toon and Robock of Rutgers University, not only kill  a
large portion of all humans in the ensuing firestorms, but would then
inject up to 150million tonnes of very black soot right into the
upper stratosphere where it would blot out the sun for decades,
creating a freezing twilight in which most remaining humans would
starve and freeze to death.

The mechanisms to do this exist right now (and have been in place ever
since the 1960s). A US-Russian nuclear 'exchange', an apocalypse for
which both sides still drill regularly, would produce temperatures
lower than, or similar to, the last ice – age. The ICBMs to do it
remain in their silos, gyros spinning, able to be launched at the
turning of keys and the inputting of a few numerical codes.

Every two years, the United Nations General Assembly, in a resolution that
sprung from the efforts of the author of this press-release, calls on
the US and Russia to lower the operational readiness of their
strategic nuclear weapon systems. That resolution was adopted just
three weeks ago by 164-4. The missiles remain on high alert as
before.

A nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan, potentially the worlds
most likely nuclear 'flashpoint', using up to 110 hiroshima-sized
warheads each, could still produce not only up to 150 million
immediate casualties, but a global 'nuclear autumn' in which up to a
billion could die from famine.

The world will hopefully not end tomorrow. But the (real) apocalypse
remains on the agenda,  in its silos, waiting for buttons to be
pressed, numerical codes to be input, and keys to be turned.  

NOTE:
Professor Alan Robock, the senior-most proponent of 'Nuclear Winter' will be
talking at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (Rm114) at
5-6.30pm, 25 Jan 2013. (assuming we are all still here).

The Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPACS) is located in the
Mackie Building, just off Parramatta Road, opposite the footbridge
theatre.

The event is sponsored by the Human Survival Project,(a joint PND-CPACS
project)  CPACS, and People for Nuclear Disarmament.
Inquiries
John Hallam 9810-2598
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Prof Peter King, 042-264-7025