Study reveals devastating 15-year effect of Nuclear explosion on Ozone layer

The threat of a nuclear war is something that always has humanity hanging on the cliff of survival. Ever since its introduction in the 1940s, the world has been talking about the devastation it can cause on all forms of life on this planet. A new collaborative study conducted by Rutgers University and the National Center for Atmospheric Research states that any nuclear war on Earth can affect our planet for the next 15 years. Moreover, the experts warned that any unfortunate nuclear event can cause widescale destruction of food supplies and can trigger catastrophic climatic change.

Nuclear war can cause years of ozone depletion

The study conducted by the aforementioned institutions estimated the resulting damage from nuclear warfares to nature and to the planet overall, as per a report by the Science Times. The results of the study stated that the breakout of a nuclear war will heat the planet up to the stratosphere and result in a loss of 65-75% of the ozone layer, which would take at least 15 years to heal. 

The study further revealed that during a nuclear event, the smoke rising up in the atmosphere could make the ozone thinner, which would leave us exposed to the harmful radiations coming in from the sun. It further stated that recovery of the ozone layer from such a catastrophic event might take over a decade’s time, given the ozone does not undergo any further damage due to human negligence.

But the trouble doesn’t end here. The smoke caused by a nuclear event will also trap the harmful ultraviolet radiation that would make the planet a burning vessel. As a result, the natural survival processes that plants and animals go through will be completely unbalanced, leading to the destruction of food supplies and painful fatalities.

The researchers reportedly arrived at these conclusions by developing a new approach that records and analyses climatic data. The predictions might be nearly accurate as the experts created a simulation of a nuclear-induced atmosphere using aerosol and nitric oxide compositions with the prime motive of studying ozone depletion and trapping of the Sun’s excessive UV light.

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