2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, which instantly killed around 100,000 residents in both Japanese cities and claimed the lives of approximately 90,000 and 166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000 to 80,000 in Nagasaki in the months following the bombings. The effects of the nuclear apocalypse affected residents for years to come, with children being born with congenital disabilities and survivors suffering from various forms of cancer at higher-than-normal rates.
This week, the United Nations (UN) is holding its third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The Treaty was adopted on July 7, 2017, at the UN and entered into force on Jan. 22, 2021. It not only abolishes nuclear weapons, but it also calls for reparation for radiation victims and the remediation of contaminated environments.
