Change in Climate

 This is a science report.

Nuclear explosion not only will cause the radiation damage and death of many people, it will also change the climate dramatically in the area where it happened.And if the nuclear war will start, it will change the climate of the whole world. This possibility, proposed in a paper published by an international group of scientists in December 1983, has come to be known as the “nuclear winter” theory. According to these scientists, the explosion of not even one-half of the combined number of warheads in the United States and Russia would throw enormous quantities of dust and smoke into the atmosphere. The amount could be sufficient to block off sunlight for several months, particularly in the northern hemisphere, destroying plant life and creating a subfreezing climate until the dust dispersed. The ozone layer might also be affected, permitting further damage as a result of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Were the results sufficiently prolonged, they could spell the virtual end of human civilization.

I am doing a research project on Supervolcanoes and their climate effects. If I were to (hypethetically) say that The supervolcano under Yellowstone National Park were to erupt, I know that the surfuric acid cloud would kill everything within between 250-700miles, create a nuclear winter, result in lower temperatures by 10-15C, and destroy our ecosystems.

How long would it take before the ecosystems were able to recovery, and how long would (the remainder) of humans be forced to survive with limited vegetation? And how long would the nuclear winter last? (I have heard people state between 4-5years, up to 10-12 years?)

Thanks for any possible assistance.