The Nuclear Nightmare
Nuclear Weapons are the most indiscriminate, immoral and inhumane weapons ever created. Even a single detonation on purpose or by accident would be a humanitarian catastrophe of unparalleled proportions. A full-scale nuclear war could mean the end of civilization as we know it, if not the end of all life on earth. Nuclear weapons continued existence is unnecessary, risky, immoral, and oppressive. They are not just a threat to “enemy countries” they are a threat to human survival.
Today there are nine countries: the United States, Russia, China, The United Kingdom, France, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and India that possess an estimated 15,000 nuclear warheads. The average nuclear warhead today is many times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The United States and Russia hold over 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons. Many of these weapons are kept on hair-trigger alert, ready to be launched within minutes of receiving a command.
Experts agree that we are closer to nuclear war than we’ve been since the height of the cold war. In February 2018 the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientistsmoved the Doomsday Clock to two-minutes to minute, signaling the increasing threat of nuclear war.
Rather than take serious steps to reduce and eradicate our nuclear arsenal, the US instead intends to spend an estimated $1.7 trillion in inflation-adjusted dollars over the next 30 years to enhance our arsenal and build more “usable” nuclear weapons. Similar nuclear enhancement plans are being implemented by the other eight nuclear armed states and it is clear we are entering a new arms race. This absurd cost drains money and resources that would be better spent investing in life-affirming technologies that could support and healthier and more sustainable future.
It is time to finally eliminate these absurd and dangerous weapons once and for all. Fortunately, we now have the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons(Nuclear Ban Treaty). The Nuclear Ban Treaty has established the first comprehensive ban on nuclear weapons – making them illegal under international law. While the US and other nuclear armed nations have boycotted the Treaty and are working to undermine it, through grassroots education and organizing we can help ensure the Nuclear Ban Treaty’s success. Check out our campaign to find out how.
The Climate Crisis
If we do not stop burning fossil fuels, we are going to see sea level rises and other dramatic climatic effects that will cause mass migrations of people from low-lying countries, shorelines and islands, widespread famine and economic disruption affecting the poorest people and regions of the world, increased intra-state and inter-state conflict over water, food and other resources, mass extinctions, and other possible environmental effects that could destabilize the entire planetary ecosystem.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared in November 2018 that avoiding the most extreme effects of climate change will require a 45% cut in global carbon emissions by 2030, reaching a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The existence of nuclear weapons increases the possibility of conflicts caused by climate change escalating into nuclear war and destroying the planet even sooner. The cost of nuclear weapons is taxpayer money that could otherwise be used to address climate change. The skills, technologies and industries required for averting climate change are currently being wasted on nuclear weapons development and production. The international cooperationrequired to deal with climate change is thwarted by ‘national interests’ driven by weapons manufacturers. It is many of the same corporate interests which are fueling the nuclear arms race and the race to extract every last penny from fossil fuels and other earth-ravaging industries.
Nuclear Weapons are the most indiscriminate, immoral and inhumane weapons ever created. Even a single detonation on purpose or by accident would be a humanitarian catastrophe of unparalleled proportions. A full-scale nuclear war could mean the end of civilization as we know it, if not the end of all life on earth. Nuclear weapons continued existence is unnecessary, risky, immoral, and oppressive. They are not just a threat to “enemy countries” they are a threat to human survival.
Today there are nine countries: the United States, Russia, China, The United Kingdom, France, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and India that possess an estimated 15,000 nuclear warheads. The average nuclear warhead today is many times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The United States and Russia hold over 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons. Many of these weapons are kept on hair-trigger alert, ready to be launched within minutes of receiving a command.
Experts agree that we are closer to nuclear war than we’ve been since the height of the cold war. In February 2018 the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientistsmoved the Doomsday Clock to two-minutes to minute, signaling the increasing threat of nuclear war.
Rather than take serious steps to reduce and eradicate our nuclear arsenal, the US instead intends to spend an estimated $1.7 trillion in inflation-adjusted dollars over the next 30 years to enhance our arsenal and build more “usable” nuclear weapons. Similar nuclear enhancement plans are being implemented by the other eight nuclear armed states and it is clear we are entering a new arms race. This absurd cost drains money and resources that would be better spent investing in life-affirming technologies that could support and healthier and more sustainable future.
It is time to finally eliminate these absurd and dangerous weapons once and for all. Fortunately, we now have the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons(Nuclear Ban Treaty). The Nuclear Ban Treaty has established the first comprehensive ban on nuclear weapons – making them illegal under international law. While the US and other nuclear armed nations have boycotted the Treaty and are working to undermine it, through grassroots education and organizing we can help ensure the Nuclear Ban Treaty’s success. Check out our campaign to find out how.
The Climate Crisis
If we do not stop burning fossil fuels, we are going to see sea level rises and other dramatic climatic effects that will cause mass migrations of people from low-lying countries, shorelines and islands, widespread famine and economic disruption affecting the poorest people and regions of the world, increased intra-state and inter-state conflict over water, food and other resources, mass extinctions, and other possible environmental effects that could destabilize the entire planetary ecosystem.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared in November 2018 that avoiding the most extreme effects of climate change will require a 45% cut in global carbon emissions by 2030, reaching a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The existence of nuclear weapons increases the possibility of conflicts caused by climate change escalating into nuclear war and destroying the planet even sooner. The cost of nuclear weapons is taxpayer money that could otherwise be used to address climate change. The skills, technologies and industries required for averting climate change are currently being wasted on nuclear weapons development and production. The international cooperationrequired to deal with climate change is thwarted by ‘national interests’ driven by weapons manufacturers. It is many of the same corporate interests which are fueling the nuclear arms race and the race to extract every last penny from fossil fuels and other earth-ravaging industries.
Unsustainable Levels of Inequality
Inequality is the third emergency facing the US and the planet right now. Levels of inequality, within the United States and globally, have reached staggering proportions and continue to increase. 0.1% of US households now have the same amount of wealth as the bottom 90% of households. Globally, the richest 1% own more than 45% of the total world’s wealth. This cannot go on without creating massive social upheavals.
We will not be able to solve the climate crisis or the nuclear nightmare without also addressing these gross levels of inequality.
Inequality is the third emergency facing the US and the planet right now. Levels of inequality, within the United States and globally, have reached staggering proportions and continue to increase. 0.1% of US households now have the same amount of wealth as the bottom 90% of households. Globally, the richest 1% own more than 45% of the total world’s wealth. This cannot go on without creating massive social upheavals.
We will not be able to solve the climate crisis or the nuclear nightmare without also addressing these gross levels of inequality.