The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Impact to the World

Annotated Webography
WMD Resource/ Response/ Counter-proliferation Websites
By: Student Name
Course:
Professor: [Insert Professor Name Here]
What is a Webography?
Outline: This paper reflects on the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their impact on the world. It describes the types of WMD and gives a scenario of its application in real life. From there, the paper highlights areas of discussion that are most pertinent to the modern world, including agencies and organizations that try to reduce the presence of these weapons.
Internet Sources: TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Types of Weapons of Mass Destruction PAGEREF _Toc74306446 \h 3/technology/weapon-of-mass-destructionHiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings PAGEREF _Toc74306447 \h 5/hiroshima_and_nagasaki_bombingsUnited Nations Disarmament of WMD PAGEREF _Toc74306448 \h 7/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/International Atomic Energy Agency PAGEREF _Toc74306449 \h 8/topics/security-of-nuclear-and-other-radioactive-materialNuclear-Weapon-Free Zone PAGEREF _Toc74306450 \h 9/factsheets/nwfzNon-proliferation and Counter-proliferation PAGEREF _Toc74306451 \h 10/view/document/obo-9780199743292/obo-9780199743292-0026.xml
Types of Weapons of Mass Destruction
lefttopInformation provided regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) is covered in this website that breaks down the information into the types of WMD. WMDs are classified to describe the different capacities of weapons to inflict death and destruction. It describes three types of modern weapons of mass destruction: nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, and are abbreviated as NBC.
Nuclear WMD is the category that represents the greatest threat. It is designed to release energy due to the combined nuclear fission and nuclear fusion process, which creates an explosion. The explosive energy created can be quite large, being measured in kilotons or megatons relative to the conventional chemical explosive energy of TNT. Examples of nuclear bombs mentioned on the website include the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. It is stated that this bomb had about 64 kg of highly enriched uranium and released energy amounting to about 16 kilotons of chemical explosive.
The next category of bombs that is mentioned is Chemical WMD. They are weapons that consist of chemical compounds containing toxic agents placed to kill, injure, or incapacitate target enemy personnel. They have been applied in modern warfare, with the first use being seen in World War I, between the years 1914-1918. In this war, gas warfare was used, with mustard gas being the common agent to carry out the action. It is estimated that one million casualties had been inflicted with suffering as a result of this type of warfare, and 90,000 is estimated to be the number of soldiers killed by the gas. However, chemical arms have seen more frequent use in other wars, including the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88 and the Syrian Civil War.
The third mentioned type of WMD is the biological warfare. It is described as a weapon that uses a disease-producing agent such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, or toxins to inflict damage upon humans, animals, or plants. These types of weapons are capable of causing mass deaths but are incapable of mass destruction of infrastructure, equipment, or buildings. However, they carry the potential of starting widespread pandemics and pose a difficulty in controlling the disease effects. According to Britannia, there are three ways in which biological weapons can be applied. They include ingestion into the gastrointestinal tract, inhalation into the pulmonary tract, and contact with the skin. There is some history of the application of this type of weapon being used, although rather limited. Biological WMDs were first used in the United States in 1763 by British officers who initiated the distribution of blankets laced with smallpox. In recent years, biological weapons have been used primarily by individuals rather than groups.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings
01270000The first application of nuclear weapons was demonstrated in Japan in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, 1945. This was the first witnessing of the devastating effects of a WMD and has had a permanent impact on the regions.
By the end of 1945, the attack had left an estimated 140,000 people dead in Hiroshima and 74,000 people dead in Nagasaki. In addition, the after-effects of the bombing left thousands more suffering from leukemia, cancer, and other horrible side effects of the radiation. The WMD application in Hiroshima was done on 6th August 1945 using a uranium bomb that had an explosive power equaling 15000 tons of TNT. A slightly larger plutonium bomb was detonated in Nagasaki 3 days after the first bomb created destruction over a 6.7 square km radius. The website links a video that helps to describe the dev...