Skip to content

Guest Blog: Paris, Nuclear Weapons, and Suicide Bombing

Published:
December 7, 2015
Author:
Ariel Conn

Contents

The following post was written by Dr. Alan Robock, a Distinguished Professor of Climate Science at Rutgers University.

France’s 300 nuclear weapons were useless to protect them from the horrendous suicide bomb attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, 2016. And if France ever uses those weapons to attack another country’s cities and industrial areas, France itself will become a suicide bomber. Mutually assured destruction gave way to self-assured destructionyears ago when we discovered that, even if a country launches a successful nuclear strike against their enemy, the resulting nuclear winter could kill billions more around the world, including the attacking country’s own citizens. The climate effects of the smoke generated from fires from those attacks would last for more than a decade, plunging our planet into such cold temperatures that agricultural production would be halted or severely reduced, producing famine in France and the rest of the world.

2015-12-06-1449441297-7057790-ParisPeaceSign.jpg
It is imperative for France and the rest of the world to get rid of their nuclear arsenals. They cannot be used without endangering the attacker. The threat of their use by any nation is ludicrous and cannot be taken seriously. They do not provide a deterrent. Not only do nuclear weapons not deter terrorists, they do not deter nations from attacking. Just think of the attack on the UK by Argentina (Falkland Islands War), on Israel (Six Day War), and the invasion of Eastern Europe after World War II.

The chance of the use of nuclear weapons by mistake, in a panic after an international incident, by a computer hacker, or by a rogue leader of a nuclear nation can only be removed by the removal of the weapons themselves.

As the important climate negotiations at the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris in December 2015 continue, we have to keep in mind that the greatest threat to our planet from human actions is not global warming, as important as this threat is, but from the accidental or intentional use of nuclear weapons. We need to ban nuclear weapons now, so we have the luxury of addressing the global warming problem.

This article was also featured on the Huffington Post.

This content was first published at futureoflife.org on December 7, 2015.

About the Future of Life Institute

The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a global non-profit with a team of 20+ full-time staff operating across the US and Europe. FLI has been working to steer the development of transformative technologies towards benefitting life and away from extreme large-scale risks since its founding in 2014. Find out more about our mission or explore our work.

Our content

Related content

Other posts about ,

If you enjoyed this content, you also might also be interested in:

A Hindu Perspective on AI Risks and Opportunities

"A positive future with AI entails leveraging its capabilities to enhance human welfare, promote sustainability, and advance spiritual evolution."
20 May, 2024

Designing Governance for Transformative AI: Top Proposals from the FLI & Foresight Institute Hackathon

FLI partnered with the Foresight Institute to host a hackathon to explore the design of institutions for the governance of AI. Here we showcase the three winning institutions.
8 May, 2024
Our content

Sign up for the Future of Life Institute newsletter

Join 40,000+ others receiving periodic updates on our work and cause areas.
cloudmagnifiercrossarrow-up linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram