The general public, and even many men in positions of (authority), have not realized what would be involved in a war with hydrogen bombs. The general public still thinks in terms of the obliteration of cities. It is understood that the new bombs are more powerful than the old and that, while one atomic bomb could obliterate Hiroshima, one hydrogen bomb could obliterate the largest cities such as London, New York, and Moscow. No doubt in a hydrogen-bomb war great cities would be obliterated. But this is one of the (minor) disasters that would have to be faced. If everybody in London, New York, and Moscow were (exterminated), the world might, in the course of a few centuries, recover from the blow. But we now know, especially since the Bikini test, that hydrogen bombs can gradually spread (destruction) over a much wider area than had been supposed. It is stated on very good authority that a bomb can now be manufactured which will be 25,000 times as powerful as that which destroyed Hiroshima. Such a bomb, if exploded near the ground or under water, sends radioactive particles into the upper air. They sink (gradually) and reach the surface of the earth in the form of a deadly dust or rain. It was this dust which infected the Japanese fishermen and their catch of fish although they were outside what American experts believed to be the danger zone. No one knows how widely such lethal radioactive particles might be diffused, but the best authorities are unanimous in saying that a war with hydrogen bombs is quite (likely) to put an end to the human race. It is feared that if many hydrogen bombs are used there will be (universal) death - sudden only for a fortunate minority, but for the majority a slow (torture) of disease and disintegration...
普通群众,甚至许多当权人士,不清楚一场氢弹战所包含的会是什么。普通群众仍旧从城市的毁灭上思考问题。不言而喻,新炸弹比旧炸弹更具威力——一颗原弹能毁灭广岛,而一颗氢弹能毁灭像伦敦、纽约和菲斯科这样的大都市。毫无疑问,一场氢弹战将会毁灭大城市。但这只是世界必须面对的小灾难中的一个。假如化敦人、纽约人和莫斯科人都灭绝了,世界可能要经过几个世纪才能从这场灾难中恢复过来。而我们现在,尤其是从比基尼核试验以来很清楚:氢弹能够逐渐把破坏力扩散到一个比预料要广大得多的地区。据非常权威的人士说,现在能够制造出一种炸弹,其威力比毁灭广岛的炸弹大2.5万倍。这种炸弹如果在近地或水下爆炸,会把放射性微粒送入高层大气。这些微粒逐渐降落,呈有毒灰尘或毒雨的状态到达地球表面。正是这种灰尘使日本渔民和他们所捕获的鱼受到了感染,尽管他们并不在美国专家所确认的危险区之内。没有人知道这种致命的放射性微粒怎么会传播得这么广,但是这个领域的最高权威一致表示:一场氢弹战差不多就是灭绝人类的代名词。如果许多氢弹被使用,死神恐怕就会降临全球——只有少数幸运者才会突然死亡,大多数人却须忍受疾病和解体的慢性折磨……