Essay on “Biological and chemical warfare” Complete Essay for Class 9, Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Biological and chemical warfare 

Use of harmful or deadly chemical or biological element, as weapons of war are generally known as biological and chemical warfare. These elements can say many people in one go and are considered weapons of mass destruction. Chemical weapons are prepared from poisonous chemical compounds, while biological weapons are generally living micro-organisms. Chemical and biological weapons can cause harm in numerous ways. Most cause injury or death when inhaled, and varicus other cause injuries through contact with skin or through intake of infected food. A chemical or biological attack usually entails dispersing agents into the air.

In 20th century, chemicals were used extensively as battlefield weapons only in World War I (1914-1918) and the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). The discharge of the chemical nerve agent saris in a Tokyo subway in 1995 was one of the chemical attack executed by terrorists. The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention are the most recent international agreements, which prohibit chemical weapons. Analysts assert that after the Iran-Iraq War, more countries clandestinely started developing chemical and biological weapons, and the threat of their use has widened. Iraq in particular has been, accused of accumulating such weapons of mass destruction, an Iraqi refusal to go along with United Nations weapons inspections . in the late 1990s raised international awareness of the need for more efforts to control biological and chemical weapons.

Chemical warfare agents can be classified into two mai categories: those that affect the body surface they contact, and those that damage the nervous system. Surface agents comprise phosgene gas, chlorine gas, hydrogen cyanide, and mustard gas. The injury due to phosgene, chlorine, and hydrogen cyanide takes place when they are inhaled. Phosgene is a choking agent, which causes the lungs to fill with water, while chlorine damage the cells that line the respiratory tract. Hydrogen cyanide blocks oxygen from reaching the blood. Mustard gas is composed of small droplets of liquid, which are dispersed in the air, where they are inhaled like a gas. Mustard is a blistering agent, which causes damage to any surface it contacts, including the skin, eyes, and lungs. It may also cause death. Nerve agents act by blocking the transmission of nerve messages to different parts of the body.

Biological weapons are a distinct class of weapons, a living micro-organism. The biological agents poses a dangerous military threat because they are alive, and hence unpredictable and uncontrollable once released in open. Because of this fact biological weapons have rarely been used. Biological warfare comprises bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other living micro-organisms that ca slay or incapacitate. As they can reproduce, biological agents potentially are quite harmful in an environment with the passage of time. If used for hostile intentions, any disease-causing micro-organism could be considered a weapon. Some potential warfare agent can cripple their victims without necessarily killing them. Examples include the micro-organisms, which cause tularemia and yellow fever. After suffering debilitating illness, victims of these diseases often recover, although not always. Other agents are more found to be lethal. The bacteria, which causes bubonic plague and the virus that causes smallpox can kill large numbers of untreated People. Anthrax bacteria are potentially hazardous weapons because they can exist as hardy, shell-like forms called spores. In a Warm, humid environment like the human lung, the spores can become active and highly fatal.

There are rare instances when biological weapons have been used when compared with chemical weapons. In the 14th century, plague-infected cadavers intentionally were catapulted into enemy territory in the Russian Crimea. In the 20th century the rare extensive military biological attacks were by Japan against   China in the late 1930s and 1940s. The Japanese dropped plague and other bacteria from aeroplanes over several Chinese territories. The only large-scale terrorist attack with a biological weapon.’ occurred in 1984 in the United States. Members of the Rajneesh fad in Oregon put salmonella bacteria in the salad bars of several restaurants. Although more than 750 people became ill, none died, The bacteria and chemicals agents in the tests were not as dangerous as actual warfare agents, although they posed fatal risks to the exposed population.