Nuclear Winter

Huge fires caused by Nuclear war (particularly from burning urban areas) would loft massive amounts of dark smoke and aerosol particles from the fires into the upper troposphere / stratosphere. At 10-15 kilometers (6-9 miles) above the Earth's surface, the absorption of sunlight would further heat the smoke, lifting it into the stratosphere
The smoke would persist for years, with no rain to wash it out. This would block out much of the sun's light from ever reaching the surface.


Drawn in pencil in 1994 or 95.
Scanned, cropped, colored in photoshop 2009+