Latest news with #nuclearwarfare
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Powerful AP photos show the scars of a survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bombing
Japan Nagasaki Anniversary Scars Photo Gallery NAGASAKI, Japan (AP) — On the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, The Associated Press is republishing the extraordinary photos of one survivor of the attack. Sumiteru Taniguchi, who died in 2017, was 16 when a U.S. B-29 dropped the bomb on the city. The scars on his back, burned raw by the blast, bore silent witness to that day, August 9, 1945, in an unspoken testimony inscribed in flesh. The photos, originally published in 2015 by Eugene Hoshiko, the AP chief photographer in Tokyo, show more than remnants of extreme trauma. Taniguchi considered them to be warnings, evidence shown freely so no one could say they hadn't seen the horrific results of nuclear warfare. Even after his death, Taniguchi's legacy endures. As co-chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for decades he helped lead activists pushing for the end to nuclear weapons. When Nihon Hidankyo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024, many recalled Taniguchi's quiet, unwavering voice and the scars he refused to hide. Here is the original story from 2015, published on the 70th anniversary of the attacks: ___ Struggling a bit with a left arm that has never straightened out, Sumiteru Taniguchi slowly peeled the undershirt off his frail 86-year-old body to show two visitors his scars from the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki. For 70 years, he has lived with them, a web of wounds covering most of his back, and the remains of three ribs that half rotted away and permanently press against his lungs, making it hard to breathe. His wife still applies a moisturizing cream every morning to reduce irritation from the scars. Not a day goes by without pain. He was 16 and on the job as a letter carrier when the powerful blast threw him from his bicycle. He had been about 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) from the epicenter of the 'Fat Man' plutonium bomb that detonated over Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, killing more than 70,000 people. Six days later, Japan surrendered, ending World War II. Speaking in a weak voice with some effort, he told the story last month of wandering for three days in a daze, unaware of the seriousness of his injuries. He felt something like a ragged cloth hanging from his back, shoulder and arm: It was his skin. He would spend the next 21 months lying on his stomach, getting treatment for his burned back, decomposing flesh and exposed bones. Going in and out of consciousness, he could hear the nurses passing by in the hallway asking each other if the boy was still breathing. He thought: 'Just kill me.' Because he lay immobile for so long, as one of his teenage arm bones grew, it blocked the joint at the elbow so he can't fully extend the arm. Taniguchi hopes no one else will have to suffer the pain of nuclear weapons. He heads a Nagasaki survivors group working against nuclear proliferation, though old age and pneumonia are making it harder for him to play an active role. After so many years, his words are tinged with frustration. 'I want this to be the end,' he said, slipping his shirt back on. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by Associated Press photo editors.
The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Powerful AP photos show the scars of a survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bombing
On the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, The Associated Press is republishing the extraordinary photos of one survivor of the attack. Sumiteru Taniguchi, who died in 2017, was 16 when a U.S. B-29 dropped the bomb on the city. The scars on his back, burned raw by the blast, bore silent witness to that day, August 9, 1945, in an unspoken testimony inscribed in flesh. The photos, originally published in 2015 by Eugene Hoshiko, the AP chief photographer in Tokyo, show more than remnants of extreme trauma. Taniguchi considered them to be warnings, evidence shown freely so no one could say they hadn't seen the horrific results of nuclear warfare. Even after his death, Taniguchi's legacy endures. As co-chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for decades he helped lead activists pushing for the end to nuclear weapons. When Nihon Hidankyo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024, many recalled Taniguchi's quiet, unwavering voice and the scars he refused to hide. Here is the original story from 2015, published on the 70th anniversary of the attacks: ___ Struggling a bit with a left arm that has never straightened out, Sumiteru Taniguchi slowly peeled the undershirt off his frail 86-year-old body to show two visitors his scars from the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki. For 70 years, he has lived with them, a web of wounds covering most of his back, and the remains of three ribs that half rotted away and permanently press against his lungs, making it hard to breathe. His wife still applies a moisturizing cream every morning to reduce irritation from the scars. Not a day goes by without pain. He was 16 and on the job as a letter carrier when the powerful blast threw him from his bicycle. He had been about 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) from the epicenter of the 'Fat Man' plutonium bomb that detonated over Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, killing more than 70,000 people. Six days later, Japan surrendered, ending World War II. Speaking in a weak voice with some effort, he told the story last month of wandering for three days in a daze, unaware of the seriousness of his injuries. He felt something like a ragged cloth hanging from his back, shoulder and arm: It was his skin. He would spend the next 21 months lying on his stomach, getting treatment for his burned back, decomposing flesh and exposed bones. Going in and out of consciousness, he could hear the nurses passing by in the hallway asking each other if the boy was still breathing. He thought: 'Just kill me.' Because he lay immobile for so long, as one of his teenage arm bones grew, it blocked the joint at the elbow so he can't fully extend the arm. Taniguchi hopes no one else will have to suffer the pain of nuclear weapons. He heads a Nagasaki survivors group working against nuclear proliferation, though old age and pneumonia are making it harder for him to play an active role. After so many years, his words are tinged with frustration. 'I want this to be the end,' he said, slipping his shirt back on. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by Associated Press photo editors.
Associated Press
2 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
Powerful AP photos show the scars of a survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bombing
NAGASAKI, Japan (AP) — On the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, The Associated Press is republishing the extraordinary photos of one survivor of the attack. Sumiteru Taniguchi, who died in 2017, was 16 when a U.S. B-29 dropped the bomb on the city. The scars on his back, burned raw by the blast, bore silent witness to that day, August 9, 1945, in an unspoken testimony inscribed in flesh. The photos, originally published in 2015 by Eugene Hoshiko, the AP chief photographer in Tokyo, show more than remnants of extreme trauma. Taniguchi considered them to be warnings, evidence shown freely so no one could say they hadn't seen the horrific results of nuclear warfare. Even after his death, Taniguchi's legacy endures. As co-chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for decades he helped lead activists pushing for the end to nuclear weapons. When Nihon Hidankyo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024, many recalled Taniguchi's quiet, unwavering voice and the scars he refused to hide. Here is the original story from 2015, published on the 70th anniversary of the attacks: ___ Struggling a bit with a left arm that has never straightened out, Sumiteru Taniguchi slowly peeled the undershirt off his frail 86-year-old body to show two visitors his scars from the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki. For 70 years, he has lived with them, a web of wounds covering most of his back, and the remains of three ribs that half rotted away and permanently press against his lungs, making it hard to breathe. His wife still applies a moisturizing cream every morning to reduce irritation from the scars. Not a day goes by without pain. He was 16 and on the job as a letter carrier when the powerful blast threw him from his bicycle. He had been about 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) from the epicenter of the 'Fat Man' plutonium bomb that detonated over Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, killing more than 70,000 people. Six days later, Japan surrendered, ending World War II. Speaking in a weak voice with some effort, he told the story last month of wandering for three days in a daze, unaware of the seriousness of his injuries. He felt something like a ragged cloth hanging from his back, shoulder and arm: It was his skin. He would spend the next 21 months lying on his stomach, getting treatment for his burned back, decomposing flesh and exposed bones. Going in and out of consciousness, he could hear the nurses passing by in the hallway asking each other if the boy was still breathing. He thought: 'Just kill me.' Because he lay immobile for so long, as one of his teenage arm bones grew, it blocked the joint at the elbow so he can't fully extend the arm. Taniguchi hopes no one else will have to suffer the pain of nuclear weapons. He heads a Nagasaki survivors group working against nuclear proliferation, though old age and pneumonia are making it harder for him to play an active role. After so many years, his words are tinged with frustration. 'I want this to be the end,' he said, slipping his shirt back on. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by Associated Press photo editors.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hiroshima marks 80 years since atomic bombing amid escalating nuclear tensions
Against the backdrop of rising Russia-US tensions, Japan held a ceremony on Wednesday morning commemorating 80 years since the United States' atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Speakers warned the representatives of 120 countries and regions in attendance that escalating threats of nuclear warfare "blatantly disregard" the horrifying legacy of the 1945 attacks that killed over 240,000 people. Japan marked 80 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Wednesday with a ceremony reminding the world of the horrors unleashed, as sabre-rattling between the United States and Russia keeps the nuclear "Doomsday Clock" close to midnight. A silent prayer was held at 8:15 am (2315 GMT), the moment when US aircraft Enola Gay dropped "Little Boy" over the western Japanese city on August 6, 1945. On a sweltering morning, hundreds of black-clad officials, students and survivors laid flowers at the memorial cenotaph, with the ruins of a domed building in the background, a stark reminder of the horrors that unfolded. In a speech, Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui warned of "an accelerating trend toward military buildup around the world", against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the chaos in the Middle East. Read moreHiroshima, 80 years on: Meeting the last survivors of the apocalypse "These developments flagrantly disregard the lessons the international community should have learned from the tragedies of history," he said. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said it was Japan's mission "to take the lead... toward a world without nuclear weapons". The final death toll of the Hiroshima attack would hit around 140,000 people, killed not just by the colossal blast and the ball of fire, but also later by the radiation. Three days after "Little Boy", on August 9, another atomic bomb killed 74,000 people in Nagasaki. Imperial Japan surrendered on August 15, bringing an end to World War II. Today, Hiroshima is a thriving metropolis of 1.2 million but the attacks live on in the memories of many. On the eve of the ceremony, people began lining up to pay their respects to the victims in front of the cenotaph. Before dawn on Wednesday, families who lost loved ones in the attack also came to pray. Yoshie Yokoyama, 96, who arrived in a wheelchair with her grandson, told reporters that her parents and grandparents were bomb victims. "My grandfather died soon after the bombing, while my father and mother both died after developing cancer. My parents-in-law also died, so my husband couldn't see them again when he came back from battlefields after the war. "People are still suffering," she added. Wednesday's ceremony was set to include a record of around 120 countries and regions including, for the first time, Taiwanese and Palestinian representatives. The United States -- which has never formally apologised for the bombings -- was represented by its ambassador to Japan. Russia and China were absent. Nihon Hidankyo, the grassroots organisation that last year won the Nobel Peace Prize, is representing the dwindling number of survivors, known as hibakusha. As of March, there were 99,130 hibakusha, according to the Japanese health ministry, with the average age of 86. "I want foreign envoys to visit the peace memorial museum and understand what happened," the group's co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki told local media ahead of the commemorations. Pope Leo XIV said in a statement that "in our time of mounting global tensions and conflicts", Hiroshima and Nagasaki remained "living reminders of the profound horrors wrought by nuclear weapons". United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that "the very weapons that brought such devastation to Hiroshima and Nagasaki are once again being treated as tools of coercion". Read moreMedvedev vs Trump: Russian ex-president becomes Putin's provocateur-in-chief Younger generation The attacks remain the only time atomic bombs have been used in wartime. Kunihiko Sakuma, 80, who survived the blasts as a baby, told AFP he was hopeful that there could eventually be a nuclear-free world. "The younger generation is working hard for that end," he said ahead of the ceremony. But in January, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' "Doomsday Clock" shifted to 89 seconds to midnight, the closest in its 78-year history. The clock symbolising humanity's distance from destruction was last moved to 90 seconds to midnight over Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia and the United States account for around 90 percent of the world's over 12,000 warheads, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). SIPRI warned in June that "a dangerous new nuclear arms race is emerging at a time when arms control regimes are severely weakened," with nearly all of the nine nuclear-armed states modernising their arsenals. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump said that he had ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines following an online spat with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. (FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Gizmodo
28-07-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Nuclear Winter Would Be Even Worse Than We Thought
Despite happening (thankfully) just once in real life, nuclear warfare has long been a staple element of science fiction. Popular depictions of nuclear conflict—from biographic thrillers like Oppenheimer to imagined disasters like The Day After—reflect the understanding that its consequences would be irreversible and catastrophic to modern society. Unsurprisingly, nuclear warfare and its potential repercussions concern scientists as much as fiction writers. In a recent paper published in Environmental Research Letters, researchers at Pennsylvania State University examined how nuclear war might disrupt food security worldwide, focusing specifically on the global production of corn, the most produced grain crop in the world. In the worst-case scenario, nuclear weapons would wreak havoc on our atmospheric systems, gradually cutting our annual corn production by up to 87%, the study warns. For their simulations, the authors considered 38,572 locations for corn production across six different nuclear war scenarios of increasing severity. The simulations took place under nuclear winter conditions, a hypothetical climate scenario following a large-scale nuclear war. During nuclear winters, black carbon from fires triggered by nuclear detonations would fill up the sky, obstructing sunlight. The resulting drop in global temperatures could last for over a decade—long enough to decimate agricultural systems worldwide, according to the scientists. In addition to black carbon, the authors examined the potential UV-B radiation exposure to plants. The Earth's ozone usually blocks this type of radiation, but this protective layer would be weakened in the wake of nuclear war. As UV-B radiation causes DNA damage and obstructs plant photosynthesis, the researchers modeled how overexposure to this energy source could affect the soil-plant-atmosphere system that drives crop growth. The results were disturbing. First, the 'best-case scenario,' a regional nuclear war, would release enough soot into the atmosphere to reduce annual corn production by 7%—which, to be clear, would severely impact the global food system, study lead author and meteorologist Yuning Shi explained in a press release. A global-scale war, on the other hand, would inject a massive 165 million tons of soot into the atmosphere, curbing global corn production by a whopping 80%. That wasn't all; radiation damage 'would peak in years 8 and 9' following the initial detonation of the bomb, causing an additional 7% decrease in corn yields, according to the paper. 'The blast and fireball of atomic explosions produce nitrogen oxides in the stratosphere,' Shi explained. This, in combination with heat-absorbing soot, injects a fiery cycle into the atmosphere that 'rapidly [destroys] ozone, increasing UV-B radiation levels at the Earth's surface.' Thankfully, these are just simulations. They nevertheless 'force us to realize the fragility of the biosphere—the totality of all living things and how they interact with one another and the environment,' Shi said. What's more, the study acts as an early precursor to a more refined, effective response plan for potential disasters, he added. Hopefully, that disaster won't be nuclear—though it could be something like a volcanic eruption, which obstructs sunlight in a similar way and is something we can better prepare for. For example, the paper recommended preparing 'agricultural resilience kits' containing seeds for crops that can grow under cooler conditions. 'These kits would help sustain food production during the unstable years following a nuclear war, while supply chains and infrastructure recover,' said Armen Kemanian, an environmental systems expert and paper senior author, in the same release. But these kits could easily assist food security in areas affected by severe volcanic activity, he added. Natural disasters are beyond our control, save for the preparatory part. A self-inflicted environmental catastrophe and global-scale famine—that's clearly another story. When it comes to nuclear winter, the 'best approach to preventing its devastating effects is to avoid it,' the scientists wrote.
