Hiroshima

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The Lessons of Hiroshima

A friend of mine, Hugh Gusterson, wrote this imaginary speech that President Obama might consider delivering if he should decide to visit Hiroshima. Hugh is a very thoughtful person and I thought he did an excellent job here. It doesn’t look like his essay was shared very widely, so I thought I would repost it here…

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“The White House is reportedly trying to decide whether President Obama should visit Hiroshima before he leaves office. He should go. And, since he is a very busy man, I’ve written his speech for him:”

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Did the Atomic Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki Affect Child Growth?

In 1967, James Wood and colleagues published a study on the growth of Japanese adolescents whose pregnant mothers were exposed to the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki years earlier. Of course, many people were killed by the bombs, although estimates vary somewhere between one and two hundred thousand in all. By one estimate, the mortality rate of people within one kilometer of the bomb’s hypocenter in Hiroshima was 86%. This rate dropped to 27% for people who were between 1 and 2.5 km, and to 2% for those between 2.5 and 5km. Comparable numbers were reported for Nagasaki: 88%, 34%, and 11% respectively. This study was about some of the survivors.

Hiroshima blast and fire damage, U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey map. From wikicommons.

Hiroshima blast and fire damage, U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey map. From wikicommons.

In all, the Wood et al. study included 1,259 seventeen-year-olds, who had annual medical examinations since 1950. They were then compared for height, weight, and head circumference by their mother’s distance from the bombs’ hypocenters. They concluded that:

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