I think I remember reading somewhere that the US government hired firms during the Cold War - maybe RAND - to do game theoretic analyses of strategic nuclear defense. I'd be curious if there are any summaries of this historical research or new game theoretic analyses happening with today's events and the advent of hypersonic capabilities.<p>Terrifying stuff.
Fires have to generate a massive updraft to punch into the stratosphere, and this is well-known in major volcanic eruptions like Pinatubo, but it looks like recent evidence shows this is entirely plausible:<p>> "Recent catastrophic forest fires in Canada in 2017 and Australia in 2019 and 2020 produced 0.3–1 Tg of smoke (0.006–0.02 Tg soot), which was subsequently heated by sunlight and lofted high in the stratosphere. The smoke was transported around the world and lasted for many months. This adds confidence to our simulations that predict the same process would occur after nuclear war."<p>Also, if the world's major nuclear reactors, spent fuel rods pods, and dry cask waste storage were targeted with nuclear weapons, there'd be massive radioactive fallout on top of everything else.
I don't understand, honestly, why this is a new study. I thought the fallout (hah!) from a nuclear war was known to be catastrophic to the planet. That's why everyone is so hesitant to use them (on top of MAD).<p>What about this study is new? Is it the scientific detailing and modeling?
Owen B. Toon is famously one of the T's in the groundbreaking TTAPS paper. It's credited with bringing the idea of nuclear winter into the public consciousness, alongside co-author Carl Sagan's article in Parade which made the topic more accessible.