If the world descended into nuclear war, chances are that a nuclear winter would follow. 

Soot from burning cities and forests would send more than a million tonnes of particles into the atmosphere, acting like a massive pair of planetary sunglasses by blocking precious light.

Global temperatures would plummet, and with the Sun severely weakened, food systems would soon collapse, leaving billions at risk of starvation.

Enter, seaweed.

Yes, the slimy plant that wraps around your legs at the beach and makes clambering around rock pools so treacherous.

Seaweed is actually a superfood, not only in terms of its excellent nutritional value, but its ability to grow incredibly fast – and apparently it wouldn’t be too radioactive.

According to a study led by the Alliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters, within nine to 14 months of disaster, seaweed farms could provide the equivalent of 45% of global food demand. This includes 15% of the food directly consumed by people, and 10% of animal feed.

The team, led by Dr Florian Ulrich Jehn, estimates this could prevent up to 1.2 billion deaths from starvation.

‘We will need food, and we will need a lot of it because our current food system won’t work any more,’ said Dr Jehn, speaking to Metro.co.uk’s sister publication New Scientist. ‘[Seaweed] is definitely one of the top candidates for a quick upscaling.’

Seaweed also benefits from being able to photosynthesize and grow in dim light – it does grow underwater after all. During a cloudless day in the tropics, sunlight can reach 2,000 µmol, or micromoles, the unit measuring light in a square metre.

Some species of seaweed however could keep growing at just 50-100 µmol.

Modelling their theoretical nuclear winter on a war between the US and Russia, and the seaweed Gracilaria tikvahiae, commonly known as graceful redweed, the team found it could be grown quickly across the tropics.

Here, cooling surface waters would sink, forcing nutrient-rich layers below to rise, further boosting seaweed farms. In some areas, such as the east Pacific, seaweed could grow up to 13% in a day.

It is also rich in proteins, minerals, vitamins, essential amino acids and fatty acids.

However, while the plant could provide life-saving nutrition for billions, it is rich in iodine, which can lead to health issues when eaten too much. This includes problems relating to the thyroid, an organ essential in maintaining healthy hormone levels.  

But in terms of radiation, the team believes levels could be reduced enough for humans to eat it simply by washing and processing crops, such as boiling or blanching.

And so it remains a frontrunner in battling global starvation in the event of nuclear war – and it’s never too early to start preparing, urged Dr Jehn.

Supercharging global seaweed supplies will also be a boost for humanity in the case of other disasters such as a supervolcano eruption or massive meteorite strike.

Both would mimic the effects of a nuclear winter, firing millions of tons of particles into the atmosphere and dimming the Sun.

In 1815, Mount Tambora in modern-day Indonesia erupted, killing 70,000. Twelve months later Earth suffered the ‘year with no summer’. The eruption sent 60 megatons of sulphur into the atmosphere, playing havoc with global weather systems and causing crops around the world to fail.

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