The atmosphere after a nuclear war: twilight at noon.

Abstract

If a nuclear war occurs, serious atmospheric consequences will result from the production of large amounts of particulate matter due to the many fires that will start in cities, industry and particularly in forests, agricultural fields, and oil and gas fields. We estimate that for most of the Northern Hemisphere the average intensity of sunlight reaching the surface of the earth would be reduced by a large factor. The screening of sunlight by the fire-produced aerosol over extended periods during the growing season would eliminate much of the food production in the Northern Hemisphere. Marine ecosystems may be particularly sensitive to the loss of sunlight that would result.-from Authors