August 6, 2010, commemorates the 65th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. At approximately 8:15 am Hiroshima time, the 9,700 pound uranium bomb was released by Colonel Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay, and the world changed forever.
The U.S. Department of Energy reported that the yield of the explosion was later estimated at 15 kilotons (the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT). The resulting firestorm eventually engulfed close to four and a half square miles of the city, killing anyone who had not escaped in the first minutes following the attack. Several days after the bomb, medical staff began to see the first signs of a strange illness among those who survived, and deaths began occurring at an alarming rate approximately three to four weeks after the attack. This illness was later to be known as radiation sickness.
It is estimated that approximately 70,000 people probably died from the initial explosion, heat, and radiation effects, and it is believed close to 100,000 people died by the end of that year from the lingering effects of radioactive fallout.
Survivors of the atomic bomb suffered physically from cataracts, leukemia, lung cancer, thyroid cancer, breast cancer and other organ cancers, malformed offspring, and premature aging.
The University of Michigan describes nuclear fallout as being the particles of matter in the air made radioactive from a nuclear explosion. Some of these particles fall in the immediate area and others get blown by upper winds far from the explosion site. Eventually they fall to the earth – this is called fallout. The U-M article provides an excellent simulation of fallout in the United States as well as the health effects of radiation fallout on humans based on Roentgen equivalent in man, or rem, which is the traditional historical unit of radiation dose equivalent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, further explains that rem is a person's biological risk, or simply, the risk that a person will suffer health effects from an exposure to radiation.
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Comments
War is hell, as they say. I feel for every citizen who is caught in harm's way. I am also extremely appreciative of those who serve and have served to give me the freedom every day to voice concerns, opinions, etc. without living in fear of doing so. This is a wonderful report, Nancy. Very well composed.
Sad! I'd never heard the statistics on this. Thanks for the great info!
The Japanese people are proud and stubborn. They stood up again and made their nation into an economic power to be reckoned with. As a rule, they do not complain about bigotry, discrimination, and wrongs done against them. They have commited to assimilating into U.S. culture and society. So when this strange and angry man called Obama comes to power, shouting phrases like "it's our turn" and bitterly recounts his stories of racism - we Japanese find it unproductive and annoying. He owes his success to America, and yet he spits in its face. It is very sad that Americans were not motivated enough to elect a different person for President.
I hope, as a people, we have learned.
Very well composed report...did not know what the statistics were, thanks for sharing.
Great article and review of history and hopefully we have grown since then.
Are there any events on Aug 6th in the Detroit area to mark the 65th anniversary?
Amy: As of Monday morning, August 2nd, I have been unable to find any events in the Detroit area commemorating the August 6, 1945 bombing. I will continue to search and if I find something I will pass it on. Thanks for your continued reading.
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