What has the power to destroy cities and end the world ("Nuclear Weapons” (1))? What has the power to start and prevent wars ("Mutual Assured Destruction")? These machines begin with a huge cloud of fire and leave behind a mess of destruction. These machines shake the ground and sent light and debris in a shockwave that destroys everything in sight without ever touching the ground. These death machines are called nuclear weapons, and thousands of these weapons exist. Nuclear weapons are destructive machines with a complicated history and terrifying consequences ("Nuclear Weapons” (1)).
Nuclear Weapons are very complicated war machines. Many of these bombs have forces equal to millions of tons of TNT. The energy released …show more content…
One side effect of nuclear war that could potentially end life on Earth is nuclear winter. The debris lifted by the nuclear explosion would block the sunlight from reaching Earth. This would freeze the surface. With the added radioactive fallout, most plants and animals would die, resulting in the extinction of life on Earth ("Nuclear Winter"). Effects like these resulted in terms like Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD). MAD is the idea that if a country launches a nuclear attack on another country with nuclear weapons, the attacked country will launch a nuclear counterstrike, and both countries will be annihilated (“Mutual Assured Destruction”). The Strategic Triad is a method used to ensure MAD. Both the United States and Russia have this nuclear defense system. The system relies on the fear of a nuclear counterstrike. Each country has nuclear submarines with nuclear missiles, long-range bombers capable of carrying nuclear bombs, and long-ranged ICBMs capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Each system worked independently, so it was more difficult to destroy all three systems. This meant that if a country took out one system, the others could still destroy the enemy country ("Mutual Assured …show more content…
These ground shaking bombs have threatened this world and endangered millions of lives. The nine countries that have these haunting weapons can end the world at the twist of a key. These bombs shake the Earth without ever hitting the ground. They begin with an enormous ball of fire and a shockwave that starts fires and knocks down entire buildings. Nuclear weapons can empower a single person to eradicate humanity and everything people have ever created ("Nuclear Weapons”