In the 1980s and early 1990s, a series of scientific papers
published by Soviet scientists and Western scientists (including
prominent scientists Dr. Carl Sagan, host of the PBS "Cosmos" TV
series, and Nobel Prize winner Paul Crutzen ) laid out the dire
consequences on global climate of a major nuclear exchange
between the U.S. and Soviet Union. The nuclear explosions would
send massive clouds of dust high into the stratosphere, blocking
so much sunlight that a nuclear winter would result. Global
temperatures would plunge 20°C to 40°C for several months, and
remain 2 - 6°C lower for 1-3 years. Up to 70% of the Earth's
protective stratospheric ozone layer would be destroyed,
allowing huge doses of ultraviolet light to reach the surface.
This UV light would kill much of the marine life that forms the
basis of the food chain, resulting in the collapse many
fisheries and the starvation of the people and animals that
depend it. The UV light would also blind huge numbers of
animals, who would then wander sightlessl