Nuclear Weapons 714 - Seaweed And Mushrooms Might Prevent Famine During Nuclear Winter

     I have blogged in the past about the devastation that a global nuclear war would cause. Aside from the immediate death and destruction, the ash, soot and soil thrown into the atmosphere would reduce sunlight for years and would result in a famine that could kill billions. This is generally referred to as “nuclear winter.”
      David Denkenberger is a mechanical engineer at the University of Alaska. He runs the nonprofit Alliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters (ALLFED). He recently said in an interview that he believes that it would still be possible to save the people who survive a nuclear war from famine with what he calls a sustainable “disaster diet.”
     One of the possible “triggers” that could cause a global nuclear winter would be an exchange of nuclear warheads between India and Pakistan. It is estimated that such an exchange would result in between fifty and a hundred and twenty-five million direct fatalities. The sharp drop in temperature caused by ejecta in the atmosphere would devastate the global food supply.
     In a post to the website of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, experts say “that if Pakistan attacks urban targets in 2025 with 150-kiloton nuclear weapons and if India responds with 100-kiloton nuclear weapons, smoke from burning cities would release 16 to 36 teragrams of black carbon into the atmosphere, blocking out sunlight and cooling the global surface by 2 to 5°C (3.6 to 9°F).” 
      Denkenberger publishes his work on sustaining humanity after a major nuclear exchange in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. A 2008 paper about how fungi could survive a nuclear winter intrigued Dekenberger and he decided to research the subject. He said, "The conclusion of the paper was, maybe when humans go extinct, the world will be ruled by mushrooms again. I said, 'Wait a minute. Why don't we eat the mushrooms and not go extinct?'"
     Mushrooms could feed on the millions of trees killed by the nuclear explosions and lack of sunlight and, in turn, could feed all the survivors for up to three years according to his study. Seaweed would be another possible food source during a nuclear winter. Dekenberger said, “Seaweed is a really good food source in a scenario like this because it can tolerate a low light level. It's also very fast-growing. In a nuclear winter, the land will cool down faster than the oceans, so the oceans will remain a little bit warmer. Seaweed can handle relatively low temperatures.”
    Dekenberger estimates that the world would need about one and a half billion tons of dry food per year to feed all the survivors. He also said that humans could probably grow and dry that much seaweed in less than six months. He said, "There's definitely historical precedent, but it has been a challenge getting people to think about these bigger disasters.” He mentioned that previous volcanic winters that have taken place and triggered cooler temperatures worldwide are previews of nuclear winter. Let us hope that his theories are never put to the test.