AUCKLAND (Pacific Ecologist / Pacific Media Watch): One of the most powerful images of the 20th century was the mushroom
cloud of nuclear explosions, especially in the Pacific, reports the latest edition of the Pacific Ecologist in an editorial.
"The nuclear age burst into human experience and consciousness with the atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. For the next four decades we saw over 600 above-ground (atmospheric) nuclear ‘test’ explosions, some 1000 times more destructive than the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombs.
"They were a stark reminder that humanity had for the first time in history devised a way to destroy civilisation, the environment and possibly all life on the planet, and looked hell-bent on doing so.
"As Einstein remarked: ‘The splitting of the atom has changed everything, and thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe.’
"So far we have been incredibly lucky that a nuclear catastrophe has not occurred, whether by accident, miscalculation or intent. Renowned US
scientist, Michio Kaku, coauthor of To Win a Nuclear War: The Pentagon’s Secret War Plans, reports we have come close to a nuclear exchange, some
times within minutes, on at least 15 occasions.
"We should not continue to rely on miracles." the Pacific Ecologist warned in its themed edition declaring "Why it's vital to rid the world of nuclear weapons."
The edition, coedited by Alyn Ware and Kay Weir, publishes a range of articles on nuclear weapons and the editorial states "Stopping nuclear holocaust is top of the agenda":
Themes include:
Politics raising tensions
Nuclear weapons testing legacies
Strategies to eliminate nuclear weapons
Nuclear-weapons-free zones
Pacific Ecologist 22 editorial
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