Cool Burns and Warm Fictions

Ah, that warm, pungent smell of a recent so-called “cool burn”.

Now, I do not know whether these moorland burns truly reduce the fuel load and help prevent catastrophic wildfires as it is claimed. I will heed the scientists and the fire brigade experts, but I am immediately sceptical of lobby groups pushing a single agenda.

Navigating the internet today is much like being sold a pup from a dodgy pet shop. You believe you are buying a pedigree champion, but you inevitably walk away with a street accident. It is remarkably easy to blind people with a sprinkling of scientific salt and pepper. It is strategically vital to look past a shouting headline to see who is actually pulling the strings. The Moorland Association (MA) has been reading research papers again, one from California and the other from Indonesia, and their takeaways are about as reliable as a chocolate teapot. When a group with a specific agenda starts quoting science, it is usually time to reach for a magnifying glass. Even a cursory glance reveals a thing or two.

Source-checking is essential when a lobby group uses public health to justify their own land-management practices. The MA interprets the California paper¹O’Sharkey, Karl, Sanjali Mitra, Ting Chow, Amanda J. Goodrich, Kathryn C. Conlon, and others. 2026. ‘Prenatal Exposure to Wildfire-Related PM2.5 and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children Born in California between 2001–2019’, Environment International, 208 (Elsevier BV): 110131 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2026.110131> with a very particular squint. They shout about a “50 per cent risk” of autism in rural areas while framing the null findings in cities as a mere lack of “biological shock.” They conveniently ignore the “live birth bias” that actually explains the data. In polluted cities, smoke does not just cause a diagnosis; it kills the most vulnerable foetuses before they are even born. If you die in the womb, you do not exactly show up for an autism assessment later.

“wildfire smoke associations are underestimated because the most vulnerable pregnancies are no longer represented.“

Furthermore, the MA uses smoke from burning structures and plastics — the “Wildland-Urban Interface” — to justify burning moorland plants. Equating a burning sofa to a patch of heather is a logical leap that would make Eddie the Eagle blush. If their reading of California is dodgy, their reading of Indonesia is a total dog’s dinner.

Numerical accuracy is rather important in science. A misplaced decimal point is the difference between a minor cough and an explosive exit. In their “Wildfire Warning” post, the MA makes an astronomical blunder regarding the Indonesia paper²Kitso Kusin and others. PM2.5 and CO Concentrations from Peatland Forest fires 2023 in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Buletin Poltanesa Vol. 26 No. 2 (December 2025) 00-00 p-ISSN 1412-0097 e-ISSN 2614-8374. https://f20ead8a-2979-4fd6-9990-9784b9a21c0c.usrfiles.com/ugd/f20ead_9fa8b59339cf40949c711d2fd8442ed0.pdf. They claim the “Particulate Matter” PM2.5 reached “26,439 µg/m³,” but the actual paper states that 26,439 was the concentration for Carbon Monoxide (CO).

“The PM2.5 concentration [at one test site] … is 700.24 μg/m3, while the CO concentration is 7,446 μg/m3… CO concentration [at another site] is 26,439 μg/m3 (23 ppm).” ³[Kusin et al. (2025). Page 696.]

Confusing a poisonous gas with microscopic dust at this scale is like mistaking a sparkler for the Sun. The MA clearly prefers the larger, scarier number to make the threat of wildfires seem world-ending, thereby justifying their own “cool burns.” Accurate data is a bit of a bother when you have a narrative to sell.

Consuming “insightful” blog posts requires a great deal of due diligence. Just because a group calls themselves “custodians” does not mean they are not merely tidying the facts to suit the furniture. The next time you are told that smoke is for your own good, will you believe the blog, or will you bother to read the paper?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Moorland Association Reviews

Beeson, Rob. 2026. ‘Wildfire Warning: New Research Highlights the Dangers of Unmanaged Peat Fires’,https://www.moorlandassociation.org/post/wildfire-warning-new-research-highlights-the-dangers-of-unmanaged-peat-fires [accessed 24 February 2026]

Beeson, Rob. 2026. ‘New Research: Intense Wildfire Smoke Raises Autism Risk by 50% in Rural Areas’,https://www.moorlandassociation.org/post/new-research-intense-wildfire-smoke-raises-autism-risk-by-50-in-rural-areas [accessed 11 March 2026]

Scientific Papers

Kitso Kusin and others. PM2.5 and CO Concentrations from Peatland Forest fires 2023 in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Buletin Poltanesa Vol. 26 No. 2 (December 2025) 00-00 p-ISSN 1412-0097 e-ISSN 2614-8374. https://f20ead8a-2979-4fd6-9990-9784b9a21c0c.usrfiles.com/ugd/f20ead_9fa8b59339cf40949c711d2fd8442ed0.pdf

O’Sharkey, Karl, Sanjali Mitra, Ting Chow, Amanda J. Goodrich, Kathryn C. Conlon, and others. 2026. ‘Prenatal Exposure to Wildfire-Related PM2.5 and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children Born in California between 2001–2019’, Environment International, 208 (Elsevier BV): 110131 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2026.110131

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  O’Sharkey, Karl, Sanjali Mitra, Ting Chow, Amanda J. Goodrich, Kathryn C. Conlon, and others. 2026. ‘Prenatal Exposure to Wildfire-Related PM2.5 and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children Born in California between 2001–2019’, Environment International, 208 (Elsevier BV): 110131 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2026.110131>
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  Kitso Kusin and others. PM2.5 and CO Concentrations from Peatland Forest fires 2023 in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Buletin Poltanesa Vol. 26 No. 2 (December 2025) 00-00 p-ISSN 1412-0097 e-ISSN 2614-8374. https://f20ead8a-2979-4fd6-9990-9784b9a21c0c.usrfiles.com/ugd/f20ead_9fa8b59339cf40949c711d2fd8442ed0.pdf
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  [Kusin et al. (2025). Page 696.]