The Medical Implications of Nuclear War

Written by world-renowned scientists, this volume portrays the possible direct and indirect devastation of human health from a nuclear attack. The most comprehensive work yet produced on this subject, The Medical Implications of Nuclear War includes an overview of the potential environmental and physical effects of nuclear bombardment, describes the problems of choosing who among the injured would get the scarce medical care available, addresses the nuclear arms race from a psychosocial perspective, and reviews the medical needs?in contrast to the medical resources likely to be available?after a nuclear attack. "It should serve as the definitive statement on the consequences of nuclear war." ?Arms Control Today


Table of Contents


Front Matter
Understanding and Preventing Nuclear War: The Expanding Role of the
Scientific Community
Part I: Nuclear War with Modern Weapons: Physical Effects and
Environmental Consequences
1 Possible Fatalities from Superfires Following Nuclear Attacks in
or near Urban Areas
2 A Review of the Physics of Large Urban Fires
3 Recent Assessments of the Environmental Consequences of Nuclear
War
4 Nuclear Famine: The Indirect Effects of Nuclear War
5 Nuclear Winter: The State of the Science
6 Atmospheric Perturbations of Large-Scale Nuclear War
7 Possible Toxic Environments Following a Nuclear War
8 Radioactive Fallout
Part II: Health Consequences of Nuclear War
9 Casualties Due to the Blast, Heat, and Radioactive Fallout from
Various Hypothetical Nuclear Attacks on the United States
10 Acute Radiation Mortality in a Nuclear War
11 Burn and Blast Casualties: Triage in Nuclear War
12 Food and Nutrition in the Aftermath of Nuclear War
13 Psychological Consequences of Disaster: Analogies for the
Nuclear Case
14 The Immunological Impact of Nuclear Warfare
15 Expected Incidence of Cancer Following Nuclear War
16 Genetic Consequences of Nuclear War
Part III: Medical Resource Needs and Availability Following Nuclear
War
17 Medical Supply and Demand in a Post-Nuclear-War World
18 The Consequences of Nuclear War: An Economic and Social
Perspective
Part IV: Images and Risks of Nuclear War: Psychosocial Perspectives
19 Children's and Adolescents' Perceptions of the Threat of Nuclear
War: Implications of Recent Studies
20 Scandinavian Youth View the Future: A Preliminary Report of a
Large Questionnaire Survey
21 Adult Beliefs, Feelings, and Actions Regarding Nuclear War:
Evidence from Surveys and Experiments
22 Hope and the Denial of Stress in the Nuclear Age
23 The Nuclear Arms Race and the Psychology of Power
24 Managerial Demands of Modern Weapons Systems
25 Sources of Human Instability in the Handling of Nuclear Weapons
26 The Impact of Crisis-Induced Stress on Decision Making
Part V: Long-Term Consequences of and Prospects for Recovery from
Nuclear War: Two Views
27 View I
28 View II
Concluding Remarks
Summary and Perspective: With Some Observations on Informed Consent
Glossary
Biographies of Contributors
Index