Dictionary

nuclear winter en · NOUN

Etymology

Coined by Richard P. Turco et al. in a 1983 paper.

Meanings

1. A predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war due to dust in the upper atmosphere reducing sunlight reaching the ground.
   • Scientists from the United States, the Soviet Union and other countries will meet in the Vatican Monday to discuss “nuclear winter,” the chilling climatic effect a nuclear war could have on the earth. 1984 January 23, “Parley on ‘Nuclear Winter’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • When the salarians discovered them, the krogan were a brutal, primitive species struggling to survive a self-inflicted nuclear winter. The salarians culturally uplifted them, teaching them to use and build modern technology so they could serve as soldiers in the Rachni War. 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Krogan Codex entry:
   • The global temperature declines predicted in the original (1983) nuclear winter scientific paper were 15-20°C; current estimates are 10-15°C. The two values are in good agreement considering the irreducible uncertainties in the calculations. Both temperature declines are much greater than the difference between current global temperatures and those of the last Ice Age. The long-term consequences of global thermonuclear war have been estimated by an international team of 200 scientists, who concluded that through nuclear winter the global civilization and most of the people on Earth— including those far from the northern mid-latitude target zone—would be at risk, mainly from starvation. 1995, Carl Sagan, “When Scientists Know Sin”, in The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, 1st edition, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 286:

Forms

Coordinates

impact winter · volcanic winter

Deriveds

nuclear autumn · AI winter

Translations (24)

ka ბირთვული ზამთარი (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · fi ydintalvi (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · es invierno nuclear (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · nl nucleaire winter (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · tr nükleer kış (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · pl zima nuklearna (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · is fimbulvetur (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · ja 核の冬 (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · fr hiver nucléaire (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · pt inverno nuclear (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · ro iarnă nucleară (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · is kjarnorkuvetur (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · sv atomvinter (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · id musim dingin nuklir (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · cmn 核冬天 (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · ca hivern nuclear (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · cy y gaeaf niwclear (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · da atomvinter (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · sv kärnvapenvinter (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · sv nukleär vinter (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · de nuklearer Winter (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · ru ядерная зима (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · ms musim sejuk nuklear (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war) · it inverno nucleare (predicted drop in global temperature following a nuclear war)

wikipedia: Richard P. Turco