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Nuclear winter/autumn depends on the formation of a firestorm. Only a large sustained firestorm that sustains its own wind system will lift soot into the strato
by nabla9 5y ago
Nuclear winter/autumn depends on the formation of a firestorm. Only a large sustained firestorm that sustains its own wind system will lift soot into the stratosphere. In the Gulf war, there were no sustained firestorms because fuel was below the ground and came from spot sources.
Today fuel loads in major cities are much lower than they were from the 60s to 80s and that makes it more unlikely for firestorms to start from cities.
There are a huge caveats to this thinking though.
1) Fuel loads from above-ground oil, natural gas, and coal storage areas are big enough to start a massive firestorm. Cushing, Oklahoma alone has enough fuel to cause severe cooling.
2) Nuclear strikes to some specific areas, California during a fire season, might create a firestorm that covers a large percentage of the state and burns everything down in just few hours.
- tyingq 5y ago>Cushing, Oklahoma alone has enough fuel That is pretty impressive on the satellite map...all the white dots are oil tanks.
- nabla9 5y ago13% of total U.S. oil storage capacity. Cushing is the settlement point for for West Texas Intermediate (WTI).
- glogla 5y ago> 2) Nuclear strikes to some specific areas, California during a fire season, might create a firestorm that covers a large percentage of the state and burns everything down in just few hours. How would this be different from California burning by itself every year? Is this a difference of speed of burn or something?
- nabla9 5y agoThe difference is a firestorm. In a firestorm spotfires interact. This interaction will increase the burning rates (forests and bushes burn more thoroughly, there is more heat and higher flames. It creates whole new local climate that throws shoot into the atmosphere. 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Australia had some firestorms.