Constraining Nuclear War Fire Emissions and their Impacts on the Climate System
Recent threats and growing nuclear arsenals are increasing the risk of a nuclear war. Besides the immediate threat of nuclear-weapon explosions, many uncertainties remain about the impact on climate of the subsequent widespread fires as the emitted particles are able to interact with solar radiation. Currently, previous studies have injected only soot over a very short time frame (1 day or one-model time step) and have not included any other particles such as organic or brown carbon that can be over 10 times larger in amount compared to soot during, for example, forest fires.In this study, we will use a set of models of different complexity from a fire-plume model to a fully coupled Earth System Model to investigate the plume composition, its development and climate effects of the smoke generated by fires following a regional nuclear war. Our results will then be shared with other research groups to be used to drive crop and fishery models to estimate the impacts on food availability following a nuclear conflict. Our results will also be compared to previous modeling studies to provide a more robust estimate of the climate consequences associated with a nuclear war.