International Physicians
for the Prevention of Nuclear War

Among the many crises in the world, two man-made hazards threaten the very existence of humankind: 1) the ongoing and accelerating global climate crisis and 2) the growing threat of nuclear war. 

There are many important links between the two crises, and both have the ability to crash the global climate. The climate crisis is already having clear adverse effects on health, the environment, and peace and security. On the other hand, nuclear weapons are a climate crisis waiting to happen. While it was established during the Cold War that all-out nuclear war could cause a “nuclear winter,” 21st Century research reveals that even a relatively “minor” exchange of nuclear weapons, such as between India and Pakistan, could crash the global climate by lofting massive amounts of soot into the stratosphere, causing a global cooling.

Moreover, one threat exacerbates the other:

The climate crisis is already harming health through more frequent extreme weather events, food system disruption, the spread of zoonotic and infectious diseases, and worsening mental health. As a threat multiplier, it erodes the social determinants of health and deepens the root causes of conflict and instability. Continued global warming is expected to cause mass human migration and competition for increasingly scarce resources, leading to a spiral of conflict, violence and war, including among nuclear-armed states.

At the same time, the existence and potential use of nuclear weapons continues to erode global cooperation and build instability in the face of the shared climate threat.  Nuclear weapons production is a massive resource sink, taking away from efforts to mitigate the climate crisis and associated public health crises.  All steps of the nuclear weapons production cycle are disastrous to the environment, from carbon emissions during production and environmental costs of associated militarism, to radioactive waste and environmental contamination.