"When a nuclear weapon explodes in the air, the surrounding air is subjected to great heat, followed by relatively rapid cooling. These conditions are ideal for the production of tremendous amounts of nitric oxides. These oxides are carried into the upper atmosphere, where they reduce the concentration of protective ozone. Ozone is necessary to block harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching the Earth's surface...

The nitric oxides produced by the weapons could reduce the ozone levels in the Northern Hemisphere by as much as 30 to 70 percent. Such a depletion might produce changes in the Earth's climate, and would allow more ultraviolet radiation from the sun through the atmosphere to the surface of the Earth, where it could produce dangerous burns and a variety of potentially dangerous ecological effects.It has been estimated that as much as 5,000 tons of nitric oxide is produced for each megaton of nuclear explosive power." - (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Effects/effects22.shtml)

We were destroying not only thousands of lives but billions.

"Even minor problems of ozone depletion can have major effects. Every time even a small amount of the ozone layer is lost, more ultraviolet light from the sun can reach the Earth.

Every time 1% of the ozone layer is depleted, 2% more UV-B is able to reach the surface of the planet. UV-B increase is one of the most harmful consequences of ozone depletion because it can cause skin cancer.

The increased cancer levels caused by exposure to this ultraviolet light could be enormous. The EPA estimates that 60 million Americans born by the year 2075 will get skin cancer because of ozone depletion. About one million of these people will die."- (http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental Problems/ozonedepletion-effects.html)

" Hiroshima Nagasaki

Pre-raid population 255,000 195,000

Dead 66,000 39,000

Injured 69,000 25,000

Total Casualties 135,000 64,000" - (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp10.shtml)

"The production of nuclear weapons has polluted vast amounts of soil and water at hundreds of nuclear weapons facilities all over the world. Many of the substances released, including plutonium, uranium, strontium, cesium, benzene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mercury and cyanide, are carcinogenic and/or mutagenic and remain hazardous for thousands, some for hundreds of thousands, of years." - (http://www.motherearth.org/nuke/begin2.php)

My Final opinion on this topic is the Atomic Bomb should not have been dropped because it killed many of innocent and it had horrible effects on the environment.

"Radiation released from each step in the nuclear weapons production cycle cause cancer, congenital defects, mental retardation, immune destruction, cancer, stillbirths and other health problems.

Similar syndromes have been observed among the workers exposed to radiation in nuclear power plants in Japan, or in down-winders living in the irradiated zones near Hanford, and in the Chernobyl children, as well as the areas close to the nuclear test sites."

(http://www.motherearth.org/nuke)

This is horrible and should not have happened and should never have to happen to anyone. This could have been avoided.

The Atomic Bomb should not have been dropped, it took nearly thousands of lives and took a large toll on the environment.

"It was a blinding flash, everything around me turned sheer-white. The ring of light, like a halo around the moon shone and spread like a rainbow. The next moment, a big column of flame reached up to the sky and detonated like a volcanic explosion in the air. It was a sight no words can describe."

(Quote from a survivor of the Hiroshima bomb)

Imagine being this survivor and knowing that you are one of the few to survive the Atomic Bomb that has killed nearly every one you know and love, your mother, your father, your cousin, your grandma, and your sister, all dead.

Mr. Sturr you have just earned your self a point. Good job!

Mr. Wade This shouldn't have been posted because it is uncalled for to create a claim of destruction towards a race with no evidence to back up why this should happen.

You cannot stop an entire country by scaring them especially when this country is under the code of Bushido.