During the Cold War, the total number of nuclear weapons worldwide climbed to more than 50,000. Many, including hydrogen bombs, had explosive yields that were orders of magnitude higher than the bombs dropped on Japan.
但在广岛和长期70年后，这一渐进方针显然已经失败了。冷战期间，全世界核武器总数量攀升至50,000以上。其中许多（包括氢弹）的爆炸当量比日本所接受的炸弹高出数个数量级。