Biology and Chemical Warfare Essay -- science

Biology and Chemical WarfargonIntroduction Chemical and biologic Warfargon, apply of harmful or deadly chemical or biologic agents as weapons of war. These agents can kill many heap and are considered weapons of press destruction. Chemical weapons are made up of poisonous chemical compounds, whereas biologic weapons are living microorganisms. Toxin weapons contain poisonous chemical products of living organisms and are sometimes classified separately. Chemical and biologic weapons can ca engross spot in several ways. Most cause injury or ending when inhaled, and some cause injury through contact with skin or through ingestion of contaminated food. A chemical or biological attack usually involves dispersing agents into the air. This can be done in confused ways, such as firing artillery shells that burst in mid-air, or using airplanes to spray the agents over an area. If released outdoors, these types of weapons can be affected by weather conditions. Rain would reduce the ef fectiveness of the agents, and wind might banquet them in unexpected directions. Because chemical and biological agents are seen as random, dangerous, and peculiarly cruel weapons, they have rarely been used. In the 20th century, chemicals were used extensively as battlefield weapons only in World War I (1914-1918) and the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). The release of the expression agent sarin in a Tokyo pipe in 1995 was a rare terrorist chemical attack. The 1972 biological Weapons Convention and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention are the most recent internationalistic agreements prohibiting these types of weapons, and both have been signed by many countries. Nevertheless, analysts contend that pursuit the Iran-Iraq War, more countries began to secretly develop chemical and biological weapons, and the threat of their use has become greater. Iraq in particular has been accused of stockpiling such weapons, and Iraqi resistance to United Nations weapons inspections in the late 19 90s raised international awareness of the need for stronger efforts to control biological and chemical weapons. II. Chemical WarfarePrint function Chemical warfare involves the use of chemical compounds to kill or hard injure an enemy. Several countries began eliminating their chemical weapons stockpiles in the 1990s, but the threat of their use still exists. A. Chemical AgentsPrint section... ...s, an explosive release is not necessary. Members of Aum Shinrikyo attacked the Tokyo subway by packing sarin in plastic containers. To release the nerve agent, they pierced the containers with sharp umbrella tips. The leaking liquid and vapor affected thousands of passengers. Microorganisms are generally more fragile than chemicals, and some might not outlast an explosion. But several, like anthrax spores, do remain potent afterwards an explosive release. In any case, United States Army tests have shown that biological agents can be broadly dispersed in a signifier of non-explosive w ays. In the 1950s and 1960s the Army released bacteria and chemical particles in hundreds of tests in populated areas throughout the country. Agents were sprayed at San Francisco from a boat offshore, dispense from slow-moving cars in Minneapolis and St. Louis, and released from light bulbs dropped in the New York subway. The bacteria and chemicals in the tests were not as dangerous as actual warfare agents, although they comprise some risks to the exposed populations. They demonstrated that an enemy or terrorist could expose millions of people to disease-causing organisms by a variety of simple techniques.