
Patricia Jaworek
Director, Global Nuclear Policy Program
Global effects of nuclear weapons use are not well understood and disconnected from nuclear policymaking.
Raise awareness and support novel research on the wide-ranging climatic, economic, humanitarian, and societal effects of nuclear weapons use
Inform nuclear policies and decision making with updated and comprehensive analysis of nuclear effects and promote debate on how effects should be considered in today’s world
The devastating effects caused by a nuclear explosion—light, heat, blast, and radiation—have been known since the Second World War and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, today’s interconnected world demands updated research and analysis into the global effects of nuclear weapons use, how these effects should inform nuclear policies and postures, and how they should be considered in today’s world.
Global systems have become complex and deeply intertwined, creating new vulnerabilities and increasing the risk of cascading failures with potentially far-reaching consequences for the environment, economy, and modern society. Despite these transformative shifts nuclear policy and decision-making remain largely disconnected from the consequences of nuclear weapons use.
NTI is fostering a global interdisciplinary dialogue to reframe how the effects of nuclear weapons are – and should be – considered in today’s nuclear policy landscape.
NTI Program Officer Patricia Jaworek joined a panel discussion on the devastating humanitarian effects of nuclear weapons and shared her research on the subject.
The paper highlights the need for renewed attention to the catastrophic effects of nuclear conflict as a crucial step toward reducing the risk of nuclear use.
This paper highlights the need for renewed attention to the catastrophic effects of nuclear conflict as a crucial step toward reducing the risk of nuclear use.
More than 40 researchers and scientists with expertise in nuclear security, climate science, agriculture and food security, development policy, engineering, international relations, and economics gathered in person and virtually for a hybrid conference on global nuclear effects convened by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) on June 1-2, 2022.
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 made clear the destructive force of the light, heat, blast, and radiation from a nuclear explosion. But what exactly would the effects of a nuclear explosion mean for the world today?