[Stoves] FW: Particles from Wood Burning

[acparker at xmission.com]

Sounds like another good reason for cleaner burning stoves.

[WARNING: some rant content below]

So, am I correct in assuming that, based on this information, the
Nuclear Winter models of the '80's and '90's were flawed, or are they
attempting to have their cake and eat it too?  Another assumption could
be that man has greatly influenced climate for millennia by burning
brush and forests to improve forage, as in Australia and North America,
and with slash and burn agriculture practiced in most parts of the
world.

You know, there was an attempt to validate the Nuclear Winter models,
many years ago, with a controlled burn of a meticulously measured patch
of taiga forest in Canada, but the environmentalists would not allow
it.  There is nothing like ground truth data to foul up a carefully
thought out model.

In my previous vocation, there was a push to use archival data in
computer models to reduce or eliminate the necessity for new
experimentation.  Unfortunately, in many cases, they were trying to use
apples when they really needed oranges.  Archival data and models can
get you close, but to get there you need current experimentation
specific to that model.  I would never bet my life, or anyone else's, on
a model or formula "validated" by archival data only.

Economics is so much easier.  It is perfectly acceptable to simply
ignore things that may conflict with your pet theories -- though that
does sound a lot like what passes for science these days.


Andrew Parker