Can we prevent nuclear war? | Dr. Ira Helfand | TEDxVail
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- Опубліковано 24 січ 2016
- Ira uncovers the threat to human survival posed by nuclear weapons and what we can do to eliminate this threat. Dangers of nuclear war exist. As an existential threat to humanity, Ira asks you to take action to end nuclear in all forms forever. Together, Ira asks, "Can we prevent nuclear war?"
Ira Helfand, MD is co-President of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. As co-Founder and Past President of Physicians for Social Responsibility, IPPNW’s US affiliate, he knows terrible truths about nuclear war.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx
This video was made years ago. But looking at this now, i fear we are too late.
i didn't realize how serious this issue is. I knew it existed but knowing more about the severity it can be to our planet and spices is eye opening. I want to get involved in pledging against nuclear weapons especially now.
Diamond Faucha Happened the same to me,what frighten me the most is the fact that a nuclear war could start not only because of someone, but also because of a simply electronic error.
Yes many wars taken place over spices.
My Spices are safe and sound in my kitchen.
You should know that TODAY-we are a greater risk for nuclear war than EVER BEFORE. Russia and America have recently scrapped their INF treaty.
more people need to be aware of this issue and take action before it's too late.
Why is there no worldwide demand to destroy all nuclear weapons especially the citizens of the countries that possess these weapons?
That is a good idea..but desroying it means it has to be exploded somehow. We nèed a way to get rid of it peacefully. We should ask those who build it to neutralise it without pollution of any short. But then they would not give up on those things...it means war to them if someone want it removed. They spent alot of money and time building it up. Peace might only be the way to prevent it being used. Lets hope there are if not one way out of this mesh.
Epeli Takorua no these warheads can be dismantled safely. The USA made many blunders after the fall of the Soviet Union such as expanding NATO eastward in Europe so that NATO armed forces are in the Baltic States on the border with Russia. The USA, Russia, and China are playing a dangerous game with supersonic missiles to deliver these warheads along with low yield battle nuclear weapons which if used would lead to the massive ICBMs. Sadly, the world may need to witness the outcome of a relatively low yield use of thermonuclear weapons between two adversaries such as Pakistan and India before there is grassroots demand for nuclear disarmament. Even a limited nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India would kill millions of people and do harm to the global environment resulting in colder winters with famine.
Thank you Sir...thats a relief...then we should urge our world leaders to promote peace and stability...let us live peacefully.
Because then there would be no threat over the people. Remember Kim Jong Un is going to build a nuke and drop it on our heads. "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed ( and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." HL Mencken.
Impossible won‘t ever happen without nuclear heads there would be ww20 already it keeps peace
Who’s here after Putin just threatened this very thing 3 days ago?
👋🤓
Thank you and hearty congratulations for this excellent and inspiring talk! It strengthens my resolve to work for this cause, one that is truly needed to save humanity and our one and only Earth home!
Thank you Ira...Job one indeed. This is the imperative of our generation. Leaders have reduced the arsenals dramatically already but not eliminated them and of course there are still too many, a small percentage of which could lead to nuclear winter as you describe. As a Rotarian I am seeking the support of Rotarians worldwide to join you in this effort. We need to ask the candidates if they would consider a unilateral reduction of our stockpile (which most likely would result in the Russians doing the same). We as a nation must regain the moral high ground and call out this folly for what it is.
Considering TED has 34M Subs this doesn't have as many views as it should. People need to know the seriousness of this
As much as I would love to see this type of agreement come to fruition, it's a fools dream to believe that even if such a ban came about that these governments wouldn't hold back a small percentage of warheads in secrecy for the "just in case" situation that may arise in the future. And that is a fact. I offer no solutions but only high light a very basic fact that must be understood. And wishing it away will not make it go away sadly enough
And now we fast forward 2 years from your comment and the situation is as it is.
Thanks for sharing this info... This is needed NOW MORE than ever before.
It's amazing to see how deep and how long grudges go......this nature in humans WILL bring destruction.....
Great delivery! Thank you!
As long as they exist they’ll use them soon or later
Thank you so much for raising public awareness especially now. As a Ukrainian from Zaporizhzhia , a city next to a nuclear power station on a front line which can be blown up in any minute, I’m more than happy to join those who want working hard for prevention nuclear war as well as finding ways for our world to live without wars. You are deadly right saying that it’s everyone responsibility. We can’t rely on politicians who are serving interests of few greedy individuals
its a lost cause. and i feel sad that humanity is doomed.
I have been telling my self that I have been born in the wrong era and I'm right would been much nicer being a cave man🙂
Humanity to Aliens, " we're so advanced we decided to destroy ourselves"...
thank you Ira, great to hear the truth! your have my tiny voice
I hope you all survive 2022
Awesome and really educational. More people should see this and give a thums up
This is insane!
A very nice presentation by Dr. Helfand
A very nice presentation by Dr. Helfand and I am glad that this kind of presentation are taking places to increase a consciousness of a general public. As a point of view,, there is probably more than 99% of planet population which are living their lives not thinking about the war, until it is all of the sudden upon them, but this 99% of people would never start the war, because they are not in the position to do so and maybe even if they would be, perhaps they would choose not to, for the sake of the upbringing, ethics, culture, religion or whatever is intelligent and good. On the other hand, you have this small percentage of people which come to a position of decision making, running the country, etc. Which by all means is not an easy task, but these are the people that are aware that every choice that they make will have an effect from short to global range and when only excuse for any kind of aggression is economy, which was the main reason even in the ancient times, we can see that mankind did not evolve in the most important level, but now the danger is an extinction.
The choice is not ours. As George Carlin said, "Politicians are put there to give you the notion of choice. You have no choice. You have owners."
This is the best and most adequate message of the truth which each person should be exposed to for the sake of acting in consequence of our shared responsibility. All that could be added is the statement that this activity in illegal according to our shared responsibility to act for preserving the common good. Thank you Ira, and may each of us share this message with the widest number of our friends we can reach. Sincerely, Megan Rice SHCJ
I'm afraid a nuclear war is inevitable.
Your Apple ID Verification Code is: 152924
The picture he is drawing is soooo beautiful, it would be too bad not to give it a try !
I can help you in your journey. There are a lot of things to understand about the issue you have such passion about.
Nuclear weapons should NEVER be used on humans in any conventional war. They should only be used for interstellar purposes such as asteroid destruction and never in sole control of any one country but a panel of countries that can authorize a launch outside of earth.
This is one scary world.
"Human made nuclear bombs but no mouse make mouse trap"
Albert Einstein
Mice don't make anything dude.
@@dflatt1783 poop
@@God7odTaxationIsTheft Nice name lol. You must be a real upstanding citizen. It doesn't come as a surprise that you don't understand what I mean.
@@dflatt1783 🗿
Einstein also said our government is by and large run by financiers with the mind closest to that of a facsist in a letter to college Klingdon in 1942. So who holds the nuclear football?
Quite relevant in today's world! Everyone should understand that. Every school in the world should have it in their first lesson. There should be a dark reminding international holiday to remind us all of what we have created. We created a mechanism to blow up the entire world. How can anybody sleep without fear, how can people write poems about the beauty of nature, how can you just think of anything else in prevalence of this dimension of insanity?
*it depends*
When going one way means self-destruction it’s sane to go the other way
Blue Is U. by Todd Wiggins
Humanity to Aliens, " we're so advanced we decided to destroy ourselves"...Alien's " cool can we check out what's left of your place"?
will be the last war "ever"for humanity
Poor NYC, always used to illustrate the devastation of atomic bombs and other weapons of mass destruction.
Great speech and informative. Btw you look like Tim Cook with beard :)
Surely you mean Tim Apple?
You can't deny that since the 1950's M.A.D. has worked. It's a dangerous philosophy even more so then because surveillance was very primitive and use of space was in its infancy.
All we can do is postpone the catastrophe but it’s inevitable at this point
Interesting graphic to begin with.
Dear Mr. Helfand, your words are dictated by the voice of reason. What you are doing cannot be overestimated. The survival of humanity is our common primary task, which lies on the shoulders of every person on earth.
A big problem always consists of many small problems. A big problem should be solved accordingly. We need to solve every little problem step by step, methodically. Figuratively speaking, to turn back time. Unwind the wound ball by a thread.
Unfortunately, now this tangle is only increasing in size every day. In my head, the fact that a healthy-minded person will jump into the abyss and pull everyone with him cannot lie down.
But today I see it. I see how Sweden and Finland are striving to join the North Atlantic Alliance - NATO. Does the entry of these States bring the beginning of a nuclear war closer? - Absolutely! And it upsets me endlessly. And I think it upsets every sane person. Is it worth stopping this process? - I'm sure, yes. And there are only two possible approaches that can influence this process in one way or another. The approach of goodwill or coercion.
In the first approach, I see two sides. The Governments of each of the countries and the existing members of NATO and the leadership led by the United States of America. And if one of the parties refuses to include these countries in NATO, we will exhale a little and continue to unravel this tangle. Putting aside the death of humanity. And if not?
I understand that you can't make a person want to live. But if he decided to burn down the house, and I am his neighbor and mine will burn down along with his part of the house, of course I will tie him to the bed and call the police and medics. Even if it violates some rights or norms of the new morality, I will do it.
Do you understand what I'm talking about? The neighbors of these countries, who are focused on the future, focused on development, focused on life, will be forced to "tie to the bed" the negligent.
I agree that humanity is incredibly lucky to exist. But for sure now it is impossible to shift the fate of humanity from our hands into the hands of fortune.
First of all, I want to reach out to every American and every European. The ball is on your side now! Don't miss the precious time! Stop this madness! Stop Sweden and Finland joining NATO!
Only then will we have a chance for further civilized progress towards building a future in which there will be no oppressed. The future of people of equal opportunities. A future where there is no racism and Nazism. The future of free will and freedom of speech. A future without wars. A future without nuclear weapons. The future, as such.
We live in the last days ,the Truth is scary we cannot change this Corrupt World ,God help us
yea, Jeebus will come back and wipe us out in order to save us from being wiped out by ourselves cuz heaven is also corrupt
Long live humanity
There is a research going on currently that would reduce the explosion radius of a nuke and the damage it causes this will take time to make but once done it would mean that nukes are just another type of fire crackers.
It would be a punishment for Humanity for all the atrocities we have performed and all the destructions we have done to the planet do we deserve to live
Climate and ecological emergency is on a par with this
This aged well
It's part of our future
Hello, serious question here. I know this video is old, and this comment will most likely be ignored, but I will ask anyway. Based on the average size of a 50 megaton yield nuke. In your opinion how many nukes would it take to create a global nuclear winter? And how would you source your numbers? And how would you estimate your math?
Alternative question. And hopefully better question; based on the average nuke mentioned above what would be the most likely end of humanity scenario that people often overlook. And how many nukes would that take? And again; And how would you source your numbers? And how would you estimate your math?
I know this is a hard number to figure out, because most people don't factor in death caused by loss of technology(ventilators in hospital, etc.), Radiation poisoning of the air/land/water/food/survival equipment/animals/basic resources, depleted ozone layer, or reversible impacts on ecosystem(Accidentally killing the world supply of pollinators(bees and such)), so it's really hard to do accurate math on this.
And just so you know my motivations in I am trying to use this information to put into context why we need to shave back that amount of nukes we have globally and free up recyclable resources, manpower and save our military budget money(And maybe, just maybe allocate some of those funds to things that serve humanity rather than a promise to destroy it). And I am trying to use estimations of accurate-ish(going to underestimate/overestimate in the opposite direction of an exaggeration) numbers that can't people can't really refute, in order to make my point. Thank you for any help you can offer on this it would save me a ton of work and stress. lol
-From a fellow human in Cpnx that cares deeply about humanity
Like you said. This comment will be ignored.
best thing you could do is be prepared. sadly you will not rid a world of a technology thats already in force.
Sadly, you are right. The technology exist. It cannot be uninvented. Even if every nuclear weapon today were dismantled, that is just buying the world a little bit of time. Sooner or later, maybe a few hundred years from now. Someone will build them again for their own purposes, which will ignite another arms race. It is then that the world may not roll the dice so favorably. Some argue nukes are a deterrent, and to make one's self vulnerable is foolish. Others argue the risk itself of having them is an existential threat. It is a catch 22 no matter what, checkmate, with out any good options.
what about that gigantic dome
The best place to survive would be in one of the 14 Nuclear American Submarines resting at the bottom of the North or South Pole. In 1959 the movie “On the Beach” shows this.
The human mind is fairly accurate at estimating costs and consequences for ordinary scale events. However, the human mind is very bad at estimating probabilities of occurrence for extremely rare, or extremely large, events. It is near impossible for educated minds to appreciate the scale and magnitude and likelihood of this type of event. The ordinary self-employed "street fighter," capitalist manager, or criminal opportunist has no possible way to assess the importance or severity of this information. These "game players" invariably think they can "beat the system" by their intuitive "shrewd luck" that has ALWAYS worked for them before. We are doomed. It is only a matter of time.
After over half a century of nuclear bombs being held over us we're still here. Those on top of the system benefit from it too much to push the button. Maybe when we're obsolete. Then they'll blame North Korea or sky net for those who some how survive.
Just one question. Do you think that by making these countries who own these Nuclear weapons to get rid of them might force their hand or pressure them to use them? If they we're planning to use them in the future and now have to get rid of them that is. Apologies if this didn't make sense it is hard to put the terror into words.
Cheers for that bro I'll be sure to check it out! I do agree with you, It's just a weird topic right?
Exactly I agree completely. It's not as easy as just forcing them to give them over because I'm sure that would push the more "aggressive" nations to use them or whatever. Like you said though, just like the cold war, all they are used for is for insurance.
Where and what can we join in making disarmanemt of nuclear warheads worldwide
"recent events in ukraine" 2016 lol. That aged like fine wine :D
we are pawns. what do you expect us to do? people have thought they mattered and could get rid of such weapons since they were invented, but hows that working out?
It would be hotter than the sun's core. The surface is only 6000K!!!
Don't fear the reaper.
Unfortunately there is presently no motivation for sovereign nuclear states to abandon their nuclear arsenals. Even if it were made illegal, enforcement is obviously a problem. Therefore, states must explore more creative solutions. Rather than threatening the use of nuclear weapons, what if nuclear states threatened to withdraw from the nuclear proliferation treaty and began discussions of arming non-nuclear states with nuclear weapons? This kind of talk may seem counterintuitive, but is in itself a deterrent and could facilitate talks of nuclear disarmament. Non-nuclear states have the ability to create the necessary pressure to invoke change. For example, Ukraine, being presently at war with Russia, can make the suggestion to the world that Ukraine is ready to surrender to Russia on the condition that either 1) the entire world can permanently give up its nuclear arsenals to make it safer for everyone, or 2) at least one nuclear state and one non-nuclear state must withdraw from the nuclear proliferation treaty and share nuclear arms. If Russia actually wants to end the war, then Russia will say ok no problem we are ready to give nuclear arms to Belarus or perhaps South Ossetia. The United States might then say, no, no, we will give nuclear weapons to Canada or Australia, etc. This alone might result in ending the war in Ukraine because the world really does not want to proliferate nuclear weapons. But therein lies the solution to nuclear proliferation. If any nuclear state were to come to the realization that the threat of proliferation itself can actually incentivize nuclear disarmament, then it might consider sharing with a very responsible friendly state that would then threaten to share with other very responsible friendly states unless the entire world agrees to disarm. We could similarly conclude that non-nuclear states might place pressure on nuclear states by refusing to cooperate with nuclear states unless they start placing pressure on other nuclear states by threatening to share nuclear weapons with non-nuclear states. Not only does this clearly remove some of the leverage presently held by nuclear states, but perhaps more importantly, it allows non-nuclear states to do their part to share the burden and responsibility of possessing nuclear arms as defense.
Goodbye, everyone, it looks like we are too late
Scary, but what can i do ? ........nothing
The Scientists that created the Atom Bom saw the fruits of their work...The scientists of today working on these weapons will not see the fruits of their work...so will we human beings too. It will happen sooner than we think.
God have mercy on us all...human beings don’t deserve to live.
Don't agree, You're the only person who actually thinks humans don't deserve to live. If we can try do anything to prevent this, we should
What action can we take to ban nuclear weapons?
"We" can do nothing. Although those that push the button can probably survive it in vast, spacious underground luxury.
a mexican standoff with nucs may be better than the alternative, did you think about that?
No wonder aliens won't visit us
Hey Kim, Bring it on man!
Russia has this new nuke under construction, it's a underwater warhead. And it is like 2 times stronger than the tsar Bomba. They could put a small country underwater in minutes.
source?
US should initiate to de nuclearise, rest will follow the suit. India never developed the weapons for 1st use policy, they were developed after china tested
Sorry to tell you but China will Never give up weapons
AHHH
The only way we as people is to all come together no matter if your poor, rich ,colour, religion , I haven't heard any nuclear weapon that when drop will care who you are!!! Think👀 Kennedy was right in that famous speech we all live on this planet and breath the same air. Get the picture when will our so called leaders realize this. Together we can make these so called well educated leaders listen. Peace to✌️🇬🇧all
I don't mean to be shallow, but dear LORD - that guy is STUNNING.
I thought we already detonated 500 nuclear bombs on earth already?
You can't put the genie back in the bottle. And none of the nuclear powers trust each other. Dream on.
You're goddam right.
Zero ••••••••••
Do you believe that man walked on the Moon? We
What evidence do you have ? What evidence do you have that nuclear weapons even exist?
Stop all wars. Open all borders.
Why??? So that even other better countries get ruined???
No danger at all sleep safe people and pray for luck to be near the first nuclear explosion instant death no suffering what am praying for myself n my loved ones Please dear God its my biggest wish but there Is hope as ALL countries are waiting in line to destroy their weapons first since they trust each other so much my hope? some animals survive so in the end they can inhabit the earth they deserve this earth humans do Not
you dont hear much about humans protesting against nukeclear bombs
Please play this to Biden, Zelenskyj and Putin...
How did you know this 11 months ago???
I really think its an awesome thing to not have nuclear bombs and better not have war but what if someone says no i wont do it what than are you gonna invade them ? I mean thats stupid right ? your gonna have to give something to them of equal value but still they can build new one and in war there arent any rules i must uphold so can anybody come up with something cause i cant sleep im just thinking of a way but i just can think of anything unless we can control that no mather what they cant do it like for example you cant teleport without a device like to make it sccientifacly impossible to do it i cant find a reason that evil people wouldnt create them just because its ilegal like murder is ilegal and it has consequences but they still do it because they can but they cant teleport so they arent doing it do you understand where im going with this and if some awesome countrys destroy all there nuclear bombs other countrys can abuse that and bomb them !! you should think that im saying keep nuclear bombs but how are you gonna stop the ones that are gonna do it !!
No. We can`t.
It's great what he is saying...it really is. But when countries, that would arrest and probably kill this man for speaking publicly on this subject in their nations, have these same weapons, it would be illogical for the United States and other so called free countries to disarm.
Nothing short of an alien invasion or the appearance of a 1 true God (I don't care which one) will ever unite this world enough for the removal of these doomsday devices. There is and never will be total trust amongst us.
While one part of the world had an industrial revolution, the rest were left in the primitive dust. We are speaking to people that were thrust into modern times while we so called civilized societies eased into it like a warm bath....we have nuclear nations with bow and arrow minds.
First our enemies need to dismantle nuclear weapons then I will start helping our country dismantle theirs
Bring it on
Hi. Millitary is superior civil
In act to protection, a nation
But they not idiots,.
LOL you do understand you're making my point for me. Now run along
*Everything will be destroyed* because mankind has lost the true meaning of life and God
If everything _does_ become destroyed because of mankind, it seems like this is what god wants. If god is real how do you know this is not what he wants? And this is not part of his master plan?
If USA is a demokrati why they have those nuklear vapon.?Can the Peaple doing something.
but what can we do it will coming true and this is prediction in quran please read sura DUKHAN. it mentioned.
are u serious??
Honestly, I can't tell.
OMG how can he think for a second that the peace movement had anything to do with the end of the Cold War and disarmament that happened after it? ALL of the treaties and all the weapons destroyed and verification programs were proposed and executed by right wingers from the Regan administration, people this guy was probably calling warmongers. The peace movement proposed unilateral disarmament of the West in the face of the USSR and Warsaw Pact. They were in no way about a balanced verifiable parallel draw down of weapons systems. In many ways they were propped up and funded as propaganda stooges and useful idiots by the intelligence agencies of the Eastern Bloc much as Donald Trump's voting base is held together with Russian glue today.
I'm surrounded buy sheep we are doomed
This man is totally dishonest. "Let's use a 20MT as an example.". Maybe the Russians have some in their arsenal, but nobody else. Nobody likely to use a nuclear weapon today would have such a large bomb to use. The arsenals of the developed nations of the US, UK, France, Russia, and China operate their bombs in the 125kt to 500kt range. While it's a problem this guy is trying to raise an emotional response out of the audience.
He said they would use smaller bombs but multiple for each city. He continues to say that this could potentially total 20MT or more. That’s what he based his assessment on, and he also said the damage felt from one 20MT is probably an understatement of how much damage would be incurred from multiple smaller bombs.
"Without the presentation of solid evidence no argument can be a good one"
-Patrick Hurley, A Concise Introduction to Logic, 1985 ••••••••••
How do you know so much about top secret State controlled weapons? It almost seems that someone is telling us this stuff to terrorize us. Nuclear weapons are a hoax!
Isaiah 54:16
[16]Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
2 Peter 3:10-12
[10]But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
[11]Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
[12]Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Weapons Prophesied by the prophets
INFPs to the rescue!
As the number of weapons goes down, the danger goes up. If you got rid of all of them, what is to stop one country from rebuilding?
But no body whats to stop eating McDonald's
The guiltless picture parenthetically hover because cry conversely spot after a awful book. handsomely, rebel kevin
Not possible to ban thee weapons. This is unrealistic.
I can only count on trump to save us !......hear that hillary ?..and stephen colbert!
We need to reduce human population - drastically - using the Chinese 1 child policy - and we need to move to a more vegetarian diet to restore our meadows and forests, rivers and seas.
At 8 billion population, all demanding a first world life style, confrontation and clashes over diminishing resources will inevitably lead to armed conflicts and ultimately disaster. It's now or never for our civilization.
No !! The Bible said if those days where not shortened no flesh would survive!! Prophecy will be full filled weather we like it or not.
We are the Mystery Babylon of the Bible!! Thou you mount up to the heavens in your strength you shall be no more!!