a hypothetical lowering of global temperature postulated as the aftermath of a full nuclear war. The mechanism of such an effect depends primarily on the injection into the atmosphere of small solid particles, as soot from burning forests, which reflect sunlight and cause a reduction in solar energy retained by the earth.
A potential consequence of nuclear war, where smoke from burning cities would cause a severe worldwide drop in temperatures, lasting for weeks or months with large scale ecological impacts.
A period of dark, cold weather that may be caused by the dust and smoke entering the atmosphere from the explosion of nuclear bombs.
The dark, cold, and gloomy conditions that presumably would be brought on by nuclear war.
a long period of darkness and extreme cold that scientists predict would follow a full-scale nuclear war; a layer of dust and smoke in the atmosphere would cover the earth and block the rays of the sun; most living organisms would perish
A period of time during which temperatures are extremely cold. Likely to last at least few months.
a possible situation in which the earth would undergo severe and perilous climatic changes immediately following a nuclear war.
Prediction by some scientists that smoke and debris rising from massive fires of a nuclear war could block sunlight for weeks or months, cooling the earth's surface and producing climate changes that could, for example, negatively affect world agricultural and weather patterns.
Nuclear winter is a hypothetical global climate condition that is predicted to be a possible outcome of a large-scale nuclear war. It is thought that severely cold weather can be caused by detonating large numbers of nuclear weapons, especially over flammable targets such as cities, where large amounts of smoke and soot would be injected into the Earth's stratosphere. The term has also been applied to one of the after-effects of an asteroid impact or supervolcano eruption.