Effects of a regional nuclear war on global temperatures
By Eric Berger
March 10 2012

Despite a flurry of diplomatic efforts tensions between Israel and Iran appear to be reaching a boiling point regarding the latter country’s designs on joining the nuclear club.

This is not a geopolitical blog, but rather a science one. So I want to address the question of nuclear war’s effect on climate.

Rutgers University environmental research Alan Robock has studied this question in a meaningful way, using NASA’s climate ModelE to study the climatic effects of the byproducts of a nuclear war. Let me be clear, its effect on climate change is down the list of problems posed by nuclear weapons, but the long-term effects would nonetheless be profound, most specifically through colder temperatures, shorter growing seasons and famine.

First lets look at the consequences of a regional nuclear war using 100 15-kT (Hiroshima-size) weapons.

CONTINUE: [link to blog.chron.com]