Threats of chemical weapons to humanity

 Threats of chemical weapons to Humanity

(By Aadesh Sharma ) 

Image By:- Shrut Kapadia

After 9-11 -2001 there is a terror that the next major terrorist attack could be more lethal and that terrorist must use nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Although some scientists point out that the technological barrier to deliver these weapons ate formidable, the chances are always there. In 1993 in Chechnya, saboteurs port a package of highly radioactive cesium in Park, Moscow.

Though the authorities managed to avert a calamity. The event alerted the safety  expert all over the world to review the odds of terrorist nuclear attack. Suitcase nuclear bomb are doing its rounds. Moreover a suicide attack on a nuclear power plant could breach the reactors dome and set off and unshielded melt down that could cause a radioactive disaster with widespread fallout and many casualties.

Chemical Agents
While some toxic agents are commercially available and can be dispersed with a simple trick, others are more technically challenging.

Mustard Gas
First used as a weapon W.W.I. It causes blisters and can be fatal if inhaled. The chemical ingredient area hard to obtain.

Sarin
A nerve agent developed during II world war. It causes respiratory failure. In 1995, a Japanese cult killed 12 people in a Tokyo subway with it.

Radioactive Agents
Terrorists could resort to using smuggled nuclear materials to make crude bombs.

Plutonium
A fissile material used to make nuclear weapon easy.

Cesium
One of the more commonly materials but is not regard weapons grade. Cobalt used in medical laboratories is relatively easy to smuggle and could be dangerous.

Uranium 235
Highly enriched uranium is very wild  and is also used in making nuclear weapons.

The threat of annihilation caused by a nuclear war remains present more than 70 years after a nuclear bomb killed 150,000 people in Hiroshima, Japan. What many learned during this catastrophic moment in history is that the presence of nuclear weapons in modern-day society has the potential to put humanity’s existence at risk.

According to the Global Challenges Report, some chemical and biological weapons possess great catastrophic potential. Poisonous chemicals, for example, can be aerosolized or spread into the water supplies polluting an entire region's systems and killing hundreds if not thousands of people.

Recent developments in synthetic biology and genetic engineering have also become a concern since new technological advancements in these fields make it possible for laboratories to create highly infectious and deadly substances. “Such pathogens could be released accidentally from a facility, or intentionally released in large population centers,” the report explains. What’s even more alarming is that unlike nuclear weapons, which require complex engineering and more resources to produce, biological and chemical weapons can be developed with fewer resources at a lower cost.

Recent events have shown how a virus can spread rapidly all over the world and how it can drastically damage economies, and claim thousands of lives. Many scientists believe that the Corona virus pandemic which likely originated from a pathogen in bats won’t be the last one. As humans continue to encroach onto natural habitats and destroy wildlife the world will continue to see more zoometric diseases jump from animals to humans.

Experts believe that if current activities and attitudes towards the treatment of wildlife continue, humans need to brace themselves for more infectious disease outbreaks, even ones that can be so potent it can threaten the existence of millions of people worldwide.

 

  

Disclaimer:-

The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Light de Literacy and LDL does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.