temperatures up to tens of millions of degrees Fahrenheit. Because they
are so different from natural processes, it is necessary to examine their
potential for altering the environment in several contexts.


A. High Altitude Dust

It has been estimated that a 10,000-megaton war with half the weapons
exploding at ground level would tear up some 25 billion cubic meters of
rock and soil, injecting a substantial amount of fine dust and particles
into the stratosphere. This is roughly twice the volume of material
blasted loose by the Indonesian volcano, Krakatoa, whose explosion in 1883
was the most powerful terrestrial event ever recorded. Sunsets around the
world were noticeably reddened for several years after the Krakatoa
eruption, indicating that large amounts of volcanic dust had entered the
stratosphere.

Subsequent studies of large volcanic explosions, such as Mt. Agung on Bali
in 1963, have raised the possibility that large-scale injection of dust
into the stratosphere would reduce sunlight intensities and temperatures at
the surface, while increasing the absorption of heat in the upper
atmosphere.

The resultant minor changes in temperature and sunlight could affect crop
production. However, no catastrophic worldwide changes have resulted from
volcanic explosions, so it is doubtful that the gross injection of
particulates into the stratosphere by a 10,000-megaton conflict would, by
itself, lead to major global climate changes.