Opinion: Nuclear weapons put us all at risk. We must abolish them now. – Houston Chronicle

If an 800-kiloton nuclear bomb was detonated at the intersection of Congress and Texas in downtown Houston, 204,150 people would immediately die. Thats 2.5 times as many deaths as the total Texas death toll since the COVID pandemic began two years ago. The fallout, reaching all the way past Corpus Christi to Kingsville, would leave around 265,610 more people with devastating injuries.

Of course, thats just a rough estimate based on a simulation. But as long as nuclear weapons exist, the potential for unimaginable mass destruction remains strikingly real.

At the outset of his invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that other countries will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history if they intervened. A few days later, he ordered Russian nuclear forces to be put on a heightened alert status.

Putins words and actions underscore the inherent dangers posed by the very existence of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are not abstract tools for global security. They are weapons of mass destruction. They create instability, enable horrific violence and risk all life on the planet. Its past time to abolish them.

Putins nuclear threats are a wake-up call to some people who havent thought about nuclear weapons in a long time. But the danger of nuclear weapons isnt limited to these past few weeks.

On Jan. 13, 2018, people in Hawaii had a wake-up call of their own, when they received an alert urging them to take cover from an incoming ballistic missile. The alert was false, but the threat is very real. This is one of the key messages of On the Morning You Wake (to the End of the World), a new virtual reality documentary premiering in Austin at SXSW this week. I speak in the film about the urgency of nuclear abolition and am working with the producers to engage people who see it to take action against the bomb.

The film puts viewers in the shoes of people who tried to prepare for a possible nuclear attack on that morning in Hawaii. As people all around the world now confront the reality of the volatile world of systemic nuclear risk we live in, it is all the more important to educate, advocate and take concrete action toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.

As is clear from the above simulation, the use of even a single nuclear bomb would be absolutely devastating. In Houston alone, the petrochemical complex could turn into an inferno. The Texas Medical Center would not be able to provide help, as it would likely be destroyed, and at the very least would not have the beds, blood or burn units capable of providing for the citys population. Radiation would be unleashed, damaging human bodies, animals, plants, land, water and air for generations.

If it escalates into a nuclear war, we will be facing an unprecedented catastrophe. Millions of people could die. The climate crisis will be exponentially exacerbated; there could be a disastrous decline in food production and a global famine that might kill most of humanity.

Chapters 2 and 3 of "On the Morning You Wake (to the End of the World)" will be shown at SXSW from March 11-15. The documentary and associated impact campaign will be featured in a panel discussion about the power of creative storytelling in the nuclear abolition movement at 11:30 a.m. March 15.

Its not just an issue of the Russian government having nuclear weapons. Three North Atlantic Treaty Organization members France, the United Kingdom and the United States also possess nuclear weapons, and U.S. nuclear bombs are stored on the territory of five other NATO members (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Turkey). China, India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea also have nuclear weapons. Each and every one of these bombs is a threat to peace and security.

As long as these weapons exist, there is a risk that they will be detonated. As long as they exist, they will be used to threaten and intimidate. As long as they exist, they will continue to harm people where they are made and where they have been tested primarily Indigenous nations and communities of color. As long as they exist, they will extract billions of dollars toward their maintenance, modernization and deployment, when that money is so desperately needed to confront climate change and provide for the well-being of people and the planet.

In 2020, the U.S. government spent more than $35 billion on its nuclear weapons. Facing Putins recent threats, elements of the U.S. nuclear complex are calling for more nuclear funding. Nuclear arms races are not part of the past. They are going on right now, and they are devastating us all. Its time to change course.

We already have an international agreement that most countries in the world support. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons outlaws the use, threat of use, development and possession of nuclear weapons. So far, the nine nuclear-armed states including the U.S. have refused to sign the treaty, but pressure is mounting for them to do so. All countries should join this treaty and work urgently for the elimination of all nuclear weapons.

Nuclear abolition is the only answer to the existential threat of nuclear weapons. As long as nuclear weapons exist, their presence, production and potential use will only lead to violence and destruction.

But you have the power to shape the future of nuclear weapons policy. On the Morning You Wake is at the center of a long-term impact campaign launching in Austin this week, which provides a number of ways people concerned about the nuclear threat can get involved and work together to abolish nuclear weapons. One thing people in Houston and Austin can do is urge your city councils to join the ICAN Cities Appeal, which encourages the government to join the TPNW. You can also make sure your money isnt going to nuclear weapon production and get your bank to divest, too. We can all still change the story, not only for now, but for future generations.

Acheson is an Impact Fellow for On the Morning You Wake. They are director of disarmament at the Womens International League for Peace and Freedom and a steering group representative of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

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Opinion: Nuclear weapons put us all at risk. We must abolish them now. - Houston Chronicle