Carl Sagan (1934 – 1996), an American-born renowned astronomer, defined and explained the phenomenon of Nuclear Winter for the first time in 1983. In the article Nuclear Winter, based on the scientific paper “Global Atmospheric Consequences of Nuclear War”, Sagan explained and analyzed an unanticipated consequence, a drastic drop in world’s temperature, of a nuclear war. In a historical context, potential use of nuclear warheads in Cold War (1947-1991) influenced the writer to highlight the consequences of a nuclear war. Sagan is successful in conveying his message through a coherent structure, strong support, effective tone and careful word selection; however, the exaggerated pessimism and ineffectiveness of the essay in a modern context weakens his argument.
Writer provides a series of facts to inform the public and policymakers of the catastrophic consequences of a thermo-nuclear war. The most severe among these consequences is a drastic drop in the world’s temperature. Based on their extensive research, Sagan and his fellow scientists came up with the phenomenon of Nuclear Winter. According to them, heated particles after the nuclear explosion will rise up to form a layer around the earth that will absorb incoming sunlight. Earth, deprived of sunlight, will experience a sharp fall in temperature. This will interrupt photosynthesis and kill livestock that will result in a worldwide shortage of food.
Author has maintained coherence in the text by organizing his ideas in a logical order. Consequences of a nuclear war are listed first, followed by scientific explanation for the causes of these consequences and finally a valuable conclusion from his arguments. In the first few paragraphs, writer enumerates various outcomes of ...
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...rs, well-supported arguments helped in convincing readers and dexterous words selection and tone use increased the effectiveness of the essay. Although inapplicability in the modern political context decreases the effectiveness of the argument, there was a severe need of such awareness during the 80’s. Hence, the article served its purpose in spreading awareness across public and policy makers.
Works Cited
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Sagan, Carl. "Nuclear Winter." Readings for Writers. Ed. McCuen, Jo Ray, and Anthony Winkler. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College, 1995. Print.
"Treaties & Agreements | Arms Control Association." Arms Control Association | The Authoritative Source on Arms Control since 1971. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. .
The Cold War was a period of dark and melancholic times when the entire world lived in fear that the boiling pot may spill. The protectionist measures taken by Eisenhower kept the communists in check to suspend the progression of USSR’s radical ambitions and programs. From the suspenseful delirium from the Cold War, the United States often engaged in a dangerous policy of brinksmanship through the mid-1950s. Fortunately, these actions did not lead to a global nuclear disaster as both the US and USSR fully understood what the weapons of mass destruction were capable of.
In order to better understand the historical context of nuclear development it seems to me as though Iversen dove into a fair amount of investigative journalism. The book focuses primarily on the events of Rocky Flats and her life through a narrative nonfiction interpretation. By providing a journalist approach, Iversen makes it easy for the reader to build a relationship with the characters presented throughout the book. At times I found myself visualizing the intensity of the fires, the whirlwind of emotions from locals, and the lasting environmental impacts that would not only plague Colorado, but taint the reputation of what it means to be human.
Arms embargoes are “one type of sanctions that can be used to coerce states and non-governmental actors to improve their behaviour in the interests of international peace and security” . The prohibition of military transfers includes: provision of military aid, military cooperation, arms sales and security assistance . This essay aims to examine Dominic Tierney’s assertion whether multilateral ‘arms embargoes are both easy to introduce and difficult to lift’ . Prior to 1990, the UN introduced arms embargoes on two occasions only: against South Africa and Rhodesia . Since 1990 there have been in total 25 cases of UN mandatory arms restrictions, of which 13 remain in place. The EU is the other major embargo imposer with a total 33 cases and 20 still un-lifted . The 1990s in particular, were characterised by Cortright and Lopez as the ‘Sanctions Decade’ during which 50 multilateral sanctions were introduced, with arms embargoes being the most employed form of sanctions . Thus the statistics suggest that the UN and the EU have been more frequently resorting to arms embargoes. However, little is illustrated about the dynamics involved in issuing and removing an arms embargo.
During the height of the cold war, the threat of a nuclear attack was real. Many citizens were afraid that an enemy state, most likely the Soviet Union, would launch nuclear missiles at ...
Making a good and persuasive argument is very much an acquired skill. It requires much practice and perfecting. It takes more than just having passion and making good points. Just because a person is passionate about the topic or has supporting details does not mean they can make a successful argument. Much more thought and skill is required. Gordon Adams, in his letter to the Arizona State University standards committee, demonstrates this quite well. Gordon Adams writes a passionate argument, yet his argument lacks several critical aspects.
The Cold War,said to have lasted from the end of World War II to the dismantling of the Soviet Union in 1991, was one of the most significant political events of the 20th century. For nearly 40 years the world was under the constant threat of total devastation, caught between the nuclear arsenals of the United States, Great Britain, and France on one side and the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China on the other. Any crisis precipitated by the struggle between the forces of democracy and communism could trigger a nuclear exchange of such stupendous proportions and overwhelming horror and suffering that would render life on earth utterly impossible. In reality, this Cold War was a tense political period between the Democratic and Communist blocs, the East and the West, and most importantly, the United States and the Soviet Union. Although this period has now come to an end, many disputes have been raised concerning the initial conference at Yalta near the end of the Second World War, and the actual causes of the Cold War tensions involving Communist and American aggression.
This article was written to challenge the argument that people can survive a nuclear war. The authors are hoping that the audience will carry out action to prevent nuclear wars all together. An unfamiliar audience, or an audience who is mildly opposed to their views, are the type of audience that Doyle and Helfand are writing this article for. The main claim of this article is that the devastating The use of logic and motivational proofs are also successful in this argumentative article. The authors uses Dallas’s consequences of a nuclear war to strengthen their own argument.
In today’s society many countries and even citizens of the United States question the U.S. government’s decision to get in involved in nuclear warfare. These people deemed it unnecessary and state that the U.S. is a hypocrite that preaches peace, but causes destruction and death. Before and during World War II the U.S. was presented with a difficult decision on whether or not to develop and use the atomic bomb.
When one thinks about warfare, the average mental picture is usually a movie war scene with soldiers, and planes; very rarely do people think about about the average Joe, trimming his hedge. In the short story “Grace Period”, by Will Baker, there is a man trimming his hedge outside with an electric hedge trimmer when a nuclear bomb is dropped; his wife has gone to get the mail. In “an instant [he felt as] everything stretched just slightly, a few millimeters, then contracted again” (Baker, 1989, p. 7). Although the character does not know what is happening, the reader may realize that this description is a high altitude nuclear burst. The article “Nuclear Weapon Effects”, by John Pike, describes what a nuclear bomb’s effects are and what could happen if one was dropped. Based on clues in the story and the information from the article, the reader can determine what is happening to the man and what he can expect will happen to him.
Stokesbury, James. “World War II and the Nuclear Age.” The History Professor. Jan 2012. 7 Feb
The development and usage of the first atomic bombs has caused a change in military, political, and public functionality of the world today. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki revolutionized warfare by killing large masses of civilian population with a single strike. The bombs’ effects from the blast, extreme heat, and radiation left an estimated 140,000 people dead. The bombs created a temporary resolution that lead to another conflict. The Cold War was a political standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States that again created a new worldwide nuclear threat. The destructive potential of nuclear weapons had created a global sweep of fear as to what might happen if these terrible forces where unleashed again. The technology involved in building the first atomic bombs has grown into the creation of nuclear weapons that are potentially 40 times more powerful than the original bombs used. However, a military change in strategy has came to promote nuclear disarmament and prevent the usage of nuclear weapons. The technology of building the atomic bomb has spurred some useful innovations that can be applied through the use of nuclear power. The fear of a potential nuclear attack had been heightened by the media and its release of movies impacting on public opinion and fear of nuclear devastation. The lives lost after the detonation of the atomic bombs have become warning signs that changed global thinking and caused preventative actions.
Since its origin in 1948, North Korea has been isolated and heavily armed, with hostile relations with South Korea and Western countries. It has developed a capability to produce short- and medium-range missiles, chemical weapons, and possibly biological and nuclear weapons. In December 2002, Pyongyang lifted the freeze on its plutonium-based nuclear weapons program and expelled IAEA inspectors who had been monitoring the freeze under the Agreed Framework of October 1994. As the Bush administration was arguing its case at the United Nations for disarming Iraq, the world has been hit with alarming news of a more menacing threat: North Korea has an advanced nuclear weapons program that, U.S. officials believe, has already produced one or two nuclear bombs. As the most recent standoff with North Korea over nuclear missile-testing approaches the decompression point, the United States needs to own up to a central truth: The region of Northeast Asia will never be fully secure until the communist dictatorship of North Korea passes from the scene. After threatening to test a new, long-range missile, Pyongyang says it is willing to negotiate with "the hostile nations" opposing it. But whether the North will actually forgo its test launch is anyone's guess. North Korea first became embroiled with nuclear politics during the Korean War. Although nuclear weapons were never used in Korea, American political leaders and military commanders threatened to use nuclear weapons to end the Korean War on terms favorable to the United States. In 1958, the United States deployed nuclear weapons to South Korea for the first time, and the weapons remained there until President George Bush ordered their withdrawal in 1991. North Korean government stateme...
In 1945, when the Americans bombed Hiroshima, Japan, approximately 140,000 men and women were instantly killed by the effects of American nuclear defense. With such extreme brutality and force how many people must die for one to finally realize the strengths of nuclear bombs and what damage they can cause. Nuclear weapons should be outlawed because they kill thousands of innocent humans at a time, destroy the environment, and inviolate human’s right to moral and personal freedoms.
Mingst, K. (2011). Essentials of international relations. (5th ed., p. 70-1). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company
The full wiki page. (2010). The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Retrieved from http://maps.thefullwiki.org/Nation_statehttp://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/index.html The world of factbooks. (2011, Sept. 1).