Along with the improvement of the quality of people’ lives, industrialization and the development of science and technologies have also brought many risks for the humanity. One of the most dangerous among them is the threat of a nuclear mishap that can have tragic consequences for the whole world. The rising number of nuclearized countries and atomic power stations all over the world make more scientists suppose that the planet is on the brink of a global catastrophe.
At the present moment, the problem of a possible nuclear mishap has become extremely urgent in most developed countries. The disasters that happened in Chernobyl and Fukushima have demonstrated the whole world that nuclear power is much more dangerous than it had been believed to be and can turn the entire world into dust just in a few minutes. Illnesses, congenital disabilities, mutations are just a few consequences humanity may face in case of a new global nuclear disaster. The situation is worsened by the fact that many countries possess nuclear weapons that are one “of the gravest threats to human health (Thomason).” While some countries have gone through nuclear disarmament, nine states, among which are the United States, Russia, China, North Korea, and India continue expanding their military might with the help of atomic weapons. Though, recently, the United States has declared that the country will reduce the atomic power, some scientists still doubt that the state will be able to do it effectively. In particular, T. Yang emphasizes that the United States has even “not managed to control most of the region’s environmental problems (243)” and is unlikely to do it with nuclear ones. Still, the international community increases its attention to the problem of nuclear weapons use and its possible consequences for the whole world and encourages the world leaders to reject such a dangerous attribute of power.
So, nowadays, the risk of a nucleus mishap is exceptionally high. To prevent it, the whole world, and especially the countries that control nuclear weaponry, should realize the consequences of a possible disaster and do their best to avoid it. Only in case all states officially go through a procedure of disarmament, the world would be in relative safety. Otherwise, the humanity is at risk of facing one of the greatest, and, perhaps, its last, disasters.
- Thomasson, Catherine. “The Threat of a New Nuclear Arms Race.” The Washington Post, 22 Sept. 2012, www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-threat-of-a-new-nuclear-arms-race/2012/09/22/7cefd01a-01d7-11e2-bbf0-e33b4ee2f0e8_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b817d612e1f2.
- Yang, Tseming. “Of Borders, Fences and Global Environmentalism.” Santa Clara Law Digital Commons, vol. 41, 2003, pp. 237–244.
