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Global atmospheric effects of massive smoke injections from a nuclear war: results from general circulation model simulations

Nature volume 308, pages 21–25 (1984)Cite this article

Abstract

We report three-dimensional calculations of regional and global climatic effects of smoke generated by a large-scale nuclear war. Tropospheric aerosols of absorption optical depth 3, when injected into Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes and maintained for 1–3 weeks, cause intense radiative heating of the mid-troposphere with substantial surface cooling over land. Mid-latitude surface temperatures in continental interiors can drop well below freezing in a matter of days regardless of season. Our results, although based on several assumptions, suggest that circulation changes caused by aerosol-induced atmospheric radiative heating could spread the aerosols well beyond the altitude and latitude zones in which the smoke was initially generated.

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Author notes

  1. Curt Covey

    Present address: Division of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, 33149, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, 80307, USA

    Stephen H. Schneider & Starley L. Thompson

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  1. Curt Covey
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  2. Stephen H. Schneider
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Covey, C., Schneider, S. & Thompson, S. Global atmospheric effects of massive smoke injections from a nuclear war: results from general circulation model simulations. Nature 308, 21–25 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/308021a0

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