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What is a nuclear winter?

A nuclear winter is a theoretical result of nuclear war. The term "nuclear winter" was coined by American physicist Richard P. Turco in a 1983 article in the journal Science. In the article he describes a postnuclear war scenario in which severe, worldwide climatic changes would take place.

Turco's predictions, which have been supported by subsequent research, include prolonged periods of darkness, below-freezing temperatures, violent windstorms, and persistent radioactive fallout. These conditions would be caused by the billions of tons of dust, soot, and ash being tossed into the atmosphere, as well as smoke and poisonous fumes from firestorms.

In the case of a severe nuclear war, Turco hypothesized, the entire Northern Hemisphere (the half of the Earth north of the equator) would be blanketed by a layer of dust and soot so thick that as little as1/10of 1 percent of available...

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