nuclear warfare

The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima following the detonation of the Little Boy nuclear bomb on 6 August 1945. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain the first and only wartime uses of nuclear weapons in history.

Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can produce significantly more destruction in a much shorter time and can have a long-lasting radiological result. A large nuclear exchange would kill hundreds of millions of people. It would have long-term effects, from the fallout released, and could also lead to secondary effects, such as nuclear winter, nuclear famine, and societal collapse. A global nuclear war with current national stockpiles may lead to various devastating scenarios, including human extinction.