Human Extinction or Nuclear Disarmament? The Choice is Yours

Olivia Margo

Published 5 May 2025

On Monday, August sixth, 1945 at 8:15 a.m., all life in the bustling city of Hiroshima, Japan, came to a brutal halt when the U.S. Army Air Force dropped the atomic bomb dubbed “Little Boy” onto the city. Almost immediately afterwards, the death toll skyrocketed to a suspected number of 78,150 civilians, with many more dying later as a direct result of radiation poisoning and injury. Many burned to death, many were seared beyond recognition, some had become mere puddles of gore, some were simply vaporized as though they had never existed at all; and many later succumbed to radiation sickness and cancer in the years that followed. After this massacre, it became apparent that fear of the possibility of mass destruction and even human extinction would linger so long as nuclear arsenals continue to exist.

Currently, there are a suspected 23,000 nuclear weapons worldwide, less than half of the number during the last years of the Cold War and yet arguably still far too many. Nuclear weapons are a looming threat in modern society, with major states such as Russia threatening Ukraine with the use of such destructive nuclear weapons. It should be alarming to all that despite persistent movements to halt the proliferation and maintenance of nuclear arsenals, these weapons of mass destruction and murder are still used for leverage in modern warfare and conflict.

It is not a looming threat to take lightly in the slightest, as the power of the nuclear bomb since Hiroshima has grown from around 15 to 20 kilotons of dynamite to a devastating 100 kilotons - or more. The fact that these nuclear threats are still uttered makes it clear that nuclear war between nations is still considered a possibility. It’s evident that all proliferation of nuclear weapons must be halted as soon as possible, and all existing nuclear arsenals must be neutralized and disarmed.

The proliferation and continuous stockpiling of nuclear weapons, as well as threats surrounding their usage in the modern day, makes their future deployment inevitable. The world has already barely avoided nuclear warfare, with the United States and Cuba just barely avoiding a conflict involving their nuclear arsenals back in 1962. There was one incident during the Cuban Missile Crisis that highlighted the looming threat that nuclear weapons posed, and the inevitability of nuclear deployment once tensions grew high. On October 1st, 1962, four Soviet submarines, each of which carried one nuclear armed torpedo, were deployed to Cuba. The captain of one of the submarines, Valentin Savitsky, nearly used one of the nuclear torpedoes on an U.S. ship before he was hastily advised against doing so by senior naval officer Vasily Arkhipov.

It’s clear that if this incident had not been abruptly defused, nuclear weapons would have been used with a very real possibility of triggering a full nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. This incident was only avoided by sheer luck and chance, a force that is all too unreliable. It must be realized and acknowledged that the stockpiling of nuclear arsenals, and the threats of using one of these weapons, only makes their future deployment inevitable.

 What action must be taken? Perhaps the most impactful ways for civilians to advocate for the international disarmament of nuclear weapons is to do the following things: Research, inform, organize, protest. Across the world, civilians of nations can and will be heard by organizations striving for complete nuclear disarmament. To voice something is to give it attention, and attention on the looming threat of mass destruction by nuclear weapons is exactly what is needed for action to be taken against it.

Research must be done to understand the significance of nuclear weapons and the death they can bring. Informing others about the issue is a sure way to bring attention to the fact that nuclear warfare is looming above the world, and that further action of disarmament must be taken as soon as possible. Write essays on the issue, and share ideas and discussions on the issue.

Organize to meet with fellow brothers and sisters united as one under humanity, share the terrors of nuclear weapons and strategize a course of action to propose to the world. Organizing could imply many things, such as supporting campaigns like ICAN, organizing a protest, etc.. Protest with the people, to ensure that voices are heard and that the threat of annihilation and destruction of humanity by nuclear weapons is not forgotten. Action must be taken to ensure the flourishing of humanity and to put an end to the terror of the nuclear threat.

The civilian is not powerless in the issue of Nuclear disarmament, and is in reality essential for the growth of organizations campaigning for the ban on nuclear proliferation and the nuclear arsenal. In fact, vital treaties such as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) would not have been possible without civilian support.

The choice is then in the civilians’ hands: the annihilation of humanity to nuclear weapons, or international nuclear disarmament? A choice must be made, and action must be taken.