Hiroshima Day: August 6 and Nagasaki Day: August 9. A 1998 study suggested 202,118 registered deaths resulting from the Hiroshima bombing. In Nagasaki estimates place the death toll over 100,000. Two bombs resulted in over 300,000 deaths and changed our world forever.
Nuclear weapons are not on most people’s minds and for good reason. Thinking about the potential for species extermination provokes tremendous anxiety. We have enough to worry about especially while we are in the midst of a Global Pandemic. But they are out there. We have become desensitized to their threat. Nine countries possess them: Russia has 6,375 nuclear warheads, The United States of America, 5,800, France, 290, China, 350, The United Kingdom, 215, Pakistan, 160, India, 135, Israel, 90, and North Korea, 30-40. The cost of each land-based nuclear weapon is approximately $85 million. Feel free to research this one as it is complicated to determine the cost.
The consequences of even a limited nuclear exchange are unthinkable. 100 Hiroshima sized bombs, or just 10 super bombs, would effectively end life on earth. Radiation and soot from burning cities would lead to disease and famine as infrastructure and agriculture broke down. It is time to end nuclear weapons and devote our resources to developing a more sustainable way of living so we can preserve ourselves and the planet. This begins with a commitment to each other as part of a global community. The path to a more peaceful, just, and equitable world begins with each one of us. Here are some local events to consider:
http://www.graftonpeacepagoda.org/hiroshima-nagasaki-day-peace-walk/
Peace Action NYS is offering some activities: https://www.panys.org/hiroshima-nagasaki-76/
And here is some more information if you would like to understand the cost of nuclear weapons more extensively: https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/costs-us-nuclear-weapons/
And one more: https://www.icanw.org/global_nuclear_weapons_spending_2020