Scientists: 75 years after nuclear age began, the nuclear threat is still very real

With an estimated 13,400 nuclear weapons still in existence, the world recently marked the 75th anniversary of the start of the nuclear age.

On July 16,1945 the first-ever nuclear detonation was carried out in the New Mexico desert.

In the 75 years since that first test, ten countries built an estimated 134,000 nuclear weapons, according to a post by the Federation of American Scientists.

But those remaining weapons and the ongoing nuclear arms race are not all that remains of the nuclear age. After decades of testing there are contaminated lands, oceans and even people, according to the post.

In addition, the Federation of American Scientists notes that several strides made in nuclear disarmament are threatened by ongoing developments, including the modernization of existing nuclear arsenals, the resurgence of nuclear-based warfare in military doctrine, a decline in arms-control agreements, the renewal of arms races fueled in part by corporate lobbying, and a general lack of interest by nuclear-armed states in pursuing disarmament.