Nuclear war

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A nuclear war is a war in which the fighting is not done mainly with soldiers fighting conventional battles, but instead through warplanes and missiles built to carry nuclear explosives to the enemy.

The human race has built enough nuclear weapons and carrying devices over the last sixty years that a nuclear war which used all nuclear explosives on Earth would probably nearly kill every human being on the planet. Even if the direct explosions failed to do so, fallout and radiations which are an unavoidable part of such warfare would cause countless more casualties. It is theorized that a true large-scale nuclear war could create an artificial nuclear winter by blocking out the sun. Such an event could wipe out mankind and many animal species on Earth.

Nuclear war is therefore one of the largest threats to humanity's continued existence in modern times. By its very nature, war invites all parties to hold back no punches and use all weaponry at their disposal to ensure victory. It is therefore unlikely that a nuclear conflict can be limited to a small-scale affair. The number of nations capable of nuclear attacks increases every decade, and so far, only the threat of mutual assured destruction (MAD) has forced nuclear-armed nations to come to terms through other means. The greatest threats to nuclear peace date back to the days of confrontation between the world's two superpowers, when the United States of America and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics both feared and armed against such a war launched by the other side. Through forty years of tension, these two powers avoided direct conflict out of fear of annihilation and fought mostly through proxies across the globe.

In the future, as nuclear weaponry and delivery devices become more affordable to smaller countries, however, the risk of war will increase again. Even in the unlikely event that a nuclear exchange could be limited in scope, the effects of such weapons would likely cause great damage over several generations to the areas attacked.