Nuclear holocaust

=== Nuclear famine ===
{{Main|Nuclear famine}}
It is difficult to estimate the number of casualties that would result from nuclear winter, but it is likely that the primary effect would be global famine (known as Nuclear Famine), wherein mass starvation occurs due to disrupted agricultural production and distribution.<ref>Harwell, M., and C. Harwell. (1986). "Nuclear Famine: The Indirect Effects of Nuclear War", pp. 117–135 in Solomon, F. and R. Marston (Eds.). ''The Medical Implications of Nuclear War''. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. {{ISBN|0309036925}}.</ref> In 2013 and 2022 reports, the [[International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War]] (IPPNW) voiced concerns that more than two billion people, about a third of the world's population, would be at risk of starvation in the event of a regional nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan, or by the use of even a small proportion of nuclear arms held by America and Russia.<ref name="IPPNWreport2013">{{cite web|last1=Helfand|first1=Ira|title=Nuclear Famine: Two Billion Prople at Risk?|url=https://www.ippnw.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2013-Nuclear-Famine.pdf|website=IPPNW|access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref><ref name="IPPNWreport2022">{{cite web|last1=Bivens|first1=Matt|title=Nuclear Famine: Even a "limited" nuclear war would cause abrupt climate disruption and global starvation|url=https://www.ippnw.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ENGLISH-Nuclear-Famine-Report-Final-bleed-marks.pdf|website=IPPNW|access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> Several independent studies{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}} show corroborated conclusions that agricultural outputs would be significantly reduced for years by climatic changes driven by nuclear wars. Reduction of food supply would be further exacerbated by rising [[food prices]], affecting hundreds of millions of vulnerable people, especially in the poorest nations of the world.

According to a peer-reviewed study published in the journal ''[[Nature Food]]'' in August 2022,<ref name="NatureFood2022"></ref> a full-scale nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia might kill 360 million people directly and more than 5 billion people might die as a consequence from [[starvation]] due to soot created by firestorms after nuclear bombing. More than 2 billion people were projected to die as a consequence from a smaller-scale nuclear war between India and Pakistan. In the event of a nuclear war between Russia and the United States, 99% of the people in the United States, Russia, Europe, and China would die.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Here's How Bad a Nuclear War Would Actually Be |url=https://time.com/6290977/nuclear-war-impact-essay/ |magazine=Time |date=29 June 2023}}</ref>