Position paper

"The Threat of Nuclear Weapons in North America"

By: Lindsay Taylor

Background Information:

Nuclear weapons have been around since July 16, 1945, when the United States donated their first nuclear bomb in New Mexico, in Alamogordo (Asia Society). It was not even a month after the first testing when the atomic bomb was dropped on Japanese territory, Hiroshima. This bombing killed and wounded over 130,000 people. A few days later another atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki, killing over 70,000 people. Though this helped end the Second World War, it revolutionized the world and the views on war (Asia Society).

On average, there are 30,000 nuclear weapons owned by various countries (Greenpeace). These weapons are placed around the globe in 10 different countries. Out of those nuclear weapons, the United States has 9,962. An estimated 5,735 of those bombs are classified as deliverable. In the Russian Federation, there are 16,000 nuclear weapons, 5,830 of these being classified as deliverable (Greenpeace).

This is an issue that can no longer be ignored. Nuclear weapons are not safe and are severely overlooked. The issues associated with these weapons include: the production of fear to lives, their testing and radiation exposure creates severe problems to the health of many lives, and also creates harmful emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere, adding to the problem of Global Warming (Health).

My Position:

There are many groups and organizations across North America that work to stop the threat of nuclear weapons. Though this is a striking effort, there is still not enough being done. In order to reach out and make a difference to stop the production and threat of nuclear weapons, it is imperative that everyone combine forces to create action. By doing so, changes will be made and North America will see a positive outcome.

After combining forces, some ways of creating change are:

i. Attacking the media
By creating more of an outrage and adding more information on the effects of nuclear weapons to the media, more people are likely to follow. By allowing someone that many people idolize (for example: President Barack Obama) to agree with the fight against nuclear weapons, many people will follow his beliefs and opinions.

ii. To educate the population and future generations
By educating children in public and in middle schools, they will understand the consequences and the severity of the issue. They are the future generations and therefore can create more change. Another way to educate the population is by having more discussions on the topic and provide more information on the issue. This can be done through the major newspapers, and through radio and television talk shows. The more people know, the more they will understand and want to help create change.