UN General Assembly
1974

27. The modest collateral measures which have been adopted in the course of the last decade apply, in the main only to zones in outer space or the ocean depths, or are intended to eliminate weapons such as the biological weapons which, for reasons of self-preservation, nobody would have dared to use. Such measures should not lead us to forget the nightmarish situation now existing. No attempt should be made to use them as a smokescreen concealing the constant increase in the destructive power of nuclear arsenals, which for more than Ave years has been estimated as representing between 15 and 30 tons of dynamite for every person on the face of the earth. Nor should such measures make us lose sight of the fact that world military expenditures for the present year are estimated at the astronomical sum of $220,000 million, of which approximately $160,000 million is accounted for by the two super-Powers alone. Finally, we should not lose sight of the terrible discoveries which we learn about every day regarding new possible apocalyptic effects of a nuclear conflagration, such as those which were made public last month in statements made by one of the most authoritative sources in the United States, according to which a nuclear war could destroy the layer of ozone in the stratosphere which makes life on our planet possible by protecting it from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.