On May 14, 8:15 pm, Roger Coppock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On May 14, 3:08 pm, Fergus <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> [ . . . ]
>
> > What effect, if any, did the atmospheric nuclear tests of > 1947-63 have on
> > the climate?
>
> In statement after statement, the US Atomic Energy Commission, and the
> US military claimed that they
> never altered a single weather pattern with their
> nuclear tests. It is a matter of scale. The biggest
> US atmospheric test was ~1 Megaton, which is puny
> compared to the amount of energy the planetary
> weather system dissipates. I believe the Russians
> fired the record test, a couple of dozen megatons,
The record test is estimated at 50 megatons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bomba
BTW, I have heard that 50 is nowhere close to the
technical upper limit. But 50 was enough to scare
the politicians.
Nothing in the wiki about climate effects of this test.
> and that test may have melted enough ice to change
> things for short while. However, if you are looking
> for some long-term wide-area climate change, like
> global warming or nuclear winter, from just a single
> atomic detonation, forget it. The climate system is
> so much bigger.
>
> Good luck finding papers. I wouldn't know where
> to find old AEC press releases and literature, but
> that is where I would start. Try cross posting this
> to alt.war.nuclear and see what they know.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
Global Change ("globalchange") newsgroup. Global Change is a public, moderated
venue for discussion of science, technology, economics and policy dimensions of
global environmental change.
Posts will be admitted to the list if and only if any moderator finds the
submission to be constructive and/or interesting, on topic, and not
gratuitously rude.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/globalchange
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
