Accessible Climate and Impact Model Output for Studying the Human and Environmental Impacts of Nuclear Conflict

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Authors: Cheryl S. Harrison, William Faulkner, Joshua Coupe, Eric Appau Asante, Charles Bardeen, Victoria J. Garza, Ryan Heneghan, Jonas Jägermeyr, Nicole S. Lovenduski, Alan Robock, Karen Rojas, Kim Scherrer
+2 more O. B. Toon, Lili Xia
Cited by: 2
References: 54

Abstract

ABSTRACT Nuclear winter refers to the suite of physical and biological consequences that may follow nuclear conflict, particularly the cooling and darkening of Earth's surface due to black carbon soot in the upper atmosphere. While the associated changes in temperature, precipitation, and food system productivity have been the subject of climate modelling for decades, the outputs of models used to project these effects are stored in large files with formats unfamiliar to the broader research community. This paper introduces a standardized, user‐friendly repository of simulated nuclear conflict climate impact data designed to lower barriers for non‐specialist researchers. The data product provides simplified, spreadsheet‐ready datasets derived from established Earth System Model simulations and includes variables relevant to human and environmental impacts: temperature, precipitation, ultraviolet radiation, crop yields, fish catch, and sea ice thickness for a range of nuclear conflict scenarios. This repository aims to facilitate interdisciplinary research into the long‐term consequences of nuclear detonations to support policy development.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Nuclear and radioactivity studies Risk Perception and Management Radioactive contamination and transfer

Publication details

Journal / source
Geoscience Data Journal
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
13
Issue
3
Publication date
6 May 2026
Language
EN