Topics for Consideration
This list draws from research findings from sources that focus on environmental destruction, primarily from https://www.lenntech.com/environmental-effects-war.htm
Regional and global preservation and restoration projects are also ongoing, including the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) for the conservation, protection, restoration and sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystems for the 2020 decade. In addition to poems on environmental devastation, we welcome work that offers some glimpse of hope or redemption, whether that be nature's ability to rebound, a restoration project, or a philosophical point of view that puts humanity's warring ways and consequent environmental destruction in perspective.
*Near extinction of the American bison (buffalo): The U.S. Military undertook a campaign to remove Native Americans’ primary food source in the 19th century. Currently efforts transfer herds from federal to tribal lands and restore the grasslands they depend on. Tribes, including the Rosebud Sioux in South Dakota, steward tribal herds.
*Other environmental impacts of the European wars of colonization against the Indigenous peoples of North and South America. This includes undeclared wars such as the burning of Amazon rainforests, thereby driving Indigenous peoples from their homelands.
*Shipbuilding: historical use of oak and other trees depleted acres and acres of forest. Specificity as to geographic region and particular warship is helpful. See also “Deeply Historical” below.
*Cost to the environment of rebuilding bombed/ decimated cities or towns: Yet more construction materials are manufactured, which further depletes the natural environment (the need for lumber, minerals, petroleum products, etc.). Specific examples helpful.
*Significant resources are required to deliver food, water and shelter to civilians affected by conflict, and the humanitarian sector has a large carbon footprint. Fuel use is particularly high, mainly for logistics and to power the generators delivering vital electricity; in 2017 fuel cost an estimated $1.2 billion, or 5% of aid expenditure. Displaced persons camps can also release carbon.
*Trashed landscapes contaminated by depleted uranium or toxic gasses.
*Greenhouse gas emissions: The military is one of the most energy-intensive sectors in the world. Neither armaments nor the military appear in the Paris Climate Agreement, meaning that they are not obliged to report to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on their climate action and progress. Yet the global military sector heads the list of the world’s climate polluters.
*Oil production, storage or transportation infrastructure is often a target of fighting as has been the case in Colombia, Libya, Syria and Iraq. Fires and spills generate emissions, and at times oil infrastructure is actively weaponised.
*Explosives and heavy metals left behind in military training zones.
*Well poisonings, Vietnam (and possibly elsewhere). See “Vietnam.”
*Use of animals for military advantage or as war practice. Whales, for example, have been inadvertent targets.
Sixteen million animals “served” in World War I, and the RSPCA estimates that 484,143 horses, mules, camels and bullocks were killed in British service between 1914 and 1918. Some died before they reached the western front: of the 94,000 horses sent from North America in 1917, 2,700 drowned when their vessels were sunk by submarines. Trench dogs hunted for rats in the trenches. Others carried messages. The German army alone employed 30,000 dogs.
Historian Gregory A. Coco estimated there were 43,303 horses and 21,844 mules for the Army of the Potomac[ii] alone at or near Gettysburg, shot down in battle or struck by artillery projectiles behind the fighting lines. These animals fell in staggering numbers.
*World War I: Trench digging and poison gasses.
Digging trenches caused trampling of grassland, crushing of plants and animals, and churning of soil, and destroyed food
sources and nesting places of birds, fish, animals, and insects. Soil structures were altered severely, and if the war was never
fought, in all likelihood the landscape would have looked very different today. Erosion resulted from forest logging to expand
the network of trenches.
The application of poison gas had damaging impacts. Gasses that spread throughout the trenches to kill soldiers of the opposite
Front caused a total of 100,000 human deaths, but there were no counts of animal deaths, which had to have been severe. Examples of gasses applied during WWI are tear gas (aerosols causing eye irritation), mustard gas (cell toxic gas causing blistering and bleeding), and carbonyl chloride (a carcinogenic gas) which caused the most deaths. See “Use of animals for military advantage.”
*Deeply Historical: The armies of ancient Rome and Assyria, to ensure the total capitulation of their enemies, reportedly sowed salt into the cropland of their foes, making the soil useless for farming—an early use of military herbicide, and one of the most devastating environmental effects of war. Cedar trees used for commerce-the building of ships and fortifications. The Epic of Gilgamesh, the first known “novel” written on clay tablets, references the forests of Lebanon and the need to protect them.
*South America: When the Spanish conquered South America in the 16th century they took over the Incas’ mines and soon began to pump clouds of lead dust over the Andes. The silver the conquistadors sent back home made them wealthy. It also made them industrial-scale toxic metal air polluters.
*African Congo: National parks housing endangered species are often affected during warfare. Refugees hunt wildlife for bush meat, either to consume or sell it. Elephant and hippopotamus populations have declined due to poaching, which is prevalent during armed conflict. After a decade of war and social unrest in the region, aerial surveys of Congo's Virunga National Park found 629 hippopotamuses from a population that once exceeded 30,000 animals (Muir 2006).
*Mozambique Civil War: During this 15-year conflict (1977 to 1992) the Gorongosa National Park lost more than 90% of its animals. The African buffalo went from 14,000 to 100 individuals, and the hippopotamus population from 3,500 to 100. The elephant population declined from 2,000 to 200, as elephant meat was used to feed soldiers and the ivory used to finance the purchase of weapons, ammunition, and supplies. Zebras and hippopotamuses also declined. Meanwhile, the collapse of carnivore populations prompted behavioral changes in their prey. For example, when leopards and African wild dogs vanished from the park, the shy, forest-dwelling bushbuck, a type of antelope, began spending more time in open plains, where it feasted on new plants, suppressing the growth of native fauna.
*Rwanda Civil War: Refugees moved into Mountain Gorilla territory. Devastation of forests in Virunga National Park. Much of Rwanda's Akagera National Park was opened to refugees; as a result of this refugee influx, local populations of animals like the roan antelope and the eland became extinct.
*Somalia Civil War: Overfishing after the American Red Cross encouraged the consumption of freshwater fish to improve civilian diets. Fishermen ignored international fishing protocols.
*Sudan-Civil War: Extreme Drought and Famine. Farmers who did not flee along with other refugees tried to expand agricultural areas, leading to further desertification and soil erosion.
*Pearl Harbor: Leaking fuel from the Arizona and other ships caught fire, causing more ships to catch fire (air and water pollution). U.S. Military poisonings in Hawaii caused by the spread of chemicals.
*World Trade Center Explosion (Terrorism): As the planes hit the Twin Towers more than 90.000 liters of jet fuel burned at temperatures above 1000 Celsius. An atmospheric plume formed, consisting of toxic materials such as metals, furans, asbestos, dioxins, PAH, PCB and hydrochloric acid, affecting flora, fauna, air and soil as well as humans.
*Afghanistan war (U.S. War on Terrorism): Thousands of villages and their surrounding environments were destroyed. Safe drinking water declined due to destruction of water infrastructure and resulting leaks, bacterial contamination and water theft. Rivers and groundwater were contaminated by poorly constructed landfills. Taliban members illegally trading timber in Pakistan destroyed much of the forest cover. U.S. bombings and refugees in need of firewood destroyed much of what remained. Less than 2% of the country still contains a forest cover today.
Bombs threaten much of Afghanistan’s wildlife. One the world’s important migratory thoroughfare leads through Afghanistan.
The number of birds now flying this route has dropped by 85%. In the mountains many large animals such as leopards found
refuge, but much of the habitat is used as refuge for military forces now. Additionally, refugees capture leopards and other
large animals and trade them for safe passage across the border.
Pollution from application of explosives entered air, soil and water of Afghanistan. One example is cyclonite, a toxic substance
that may cause cancer.
*Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge regime resulted in deforestation, caused by extensive timber logging to finance war efforts, as well as agricultural clearance, construction, logging concessions and collection of wood fuels. A total 35% of the Cambodian forest cover was lost under the Maoist regime. Deforestation resulted in severe floods, damaging rice crops, causing food shortages and reducing wildlife habitat.
*Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The atomic blasts caused air pollution from dust particles and radioactive debris, and fires burned everywhere. Many plants and animals were killed in the blast, or died moments to months later from radioactive precipitation. Radioactive sand clogged wells used for drinking water. Surface water sources were polluted, particularly by radioactive waste. Agricultural production was damaged; dead stalks of rice could be found up to seven miles from ground zero. Today, a few meters from Hiroshima’s ground zero, a garden flourishes; Shukkei-en, the royal garden that became a public park in 1940, has been restored.
*Iraq and Kuwait: The Gulf War was one of the most environmentally devastating wars ever fought. Water, air and soil damage to the environment was extensive.
Water: Iraq dumped approximately one million tons of crude oil into the Persian Gulf, thereby causing the largest oil spill in history. Approximately 25,000 migratory birds were killed, but the impact on marine life was not as severe as expected, because warm water sped up the natural breakdown of oil. Local prawn fisheries did experience problems after the war. Crude oil was also spilled into the desert, forming oil lakes covering 50 square kilometers. In due time the oil percolated into groundwater aquifers.
During the war, many dams and sewage water treatment plants were targeted and destroyed. A lack of possibilities for water
treatment resulting from the attacks caused sewage to flow directly into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Additionally, pollutants seeped from bombed chemical plants into the rivers. Drinking water extracted from the river was polluted.
Air: Fleeing Iraqi troops ignited Kuwaiti oil sources, releasing half a ton of air pollutants into the atmosphere. Environmental problems caused by the oil fires include smog formation and acid rain. Toxic fumes originating from the burning oil wells compromised human health and threatened wildlife. A soot layer was deposited on the desert, covering plants, and thereby preventing them from breathing. Seawater was applied to extinguish the oil fires, resulting in increased salinity in areas close to oil wells. It took about nine months to extinguish the fires.
Soil: Movement of heavy machinery such as tanks through the desert damaged the brittle surface, causing soil erosion.
*Iraq & the United States: Water, air and soil contamination was extensive.
Water: Damage to sanitation structures by frequent bombing, and damage to sewage treatment systems by power blackouts
caused pollution of the River Tigris. Two hundred blue plastic containers containing uranium were stolen from a nuclear
power plant located south of Baghdad. The radioactive content of the barrels was dumped in rivers and the barrels were rinsed
out.
Air: Burning oil trenches, as in the Gulf War, resulted in air pollution. In Northern Iraq, a sulfur plant burned for one month, contributing to air pollution.
Soil: Military movements and weapon application result in land degradation. The destruction of military and industrial machinery releases heavy metals and other harmful substances.
*Israel & Lebanon: Israelis bombed a power station south of Beirut. Damaged storage tanks leaked an estimated 20,000 tons of oil into the Mediterranean Sea. The oil spill spread rapidly, covering over 90 km of the coastline, killing fish and affecting the habitat of the endangered green sea turtle. A sludge layer covered beaches across Lebanon.
*Russia & Chechnya: The war between Russia and its province continues today. It has devastating effects on the region of Chechnya. An estimated 30% of Chechen territory is contaminated, and 40% of the territory does not meet environmental standards for life. Major environmental problems include radioactive waste and radiation, oil leaks into the ground from bombarded plants and refineries, and pollution of soil and surface water. Russia has buried radioactive waste in Chechnya. Radiation at some sites is ten times its normal level. Groundwater pollution flows into the rivers Sunzha and Terek on a daily basis. In some locations the rivers are totally devoid of fish. Flora and fauna are destroyed by oil leaks and bombings.
*Vietnam: The spraying of herbicides and Agent Orange destroyed 14% of Vietnam’s forests, diminished agricultural yield, and made seeds unfit for replanting. If agricultural yield was not damaged by herbicides, it was often lost because military on the ground set fire to haystacks and soaked land with aviation fuel and burned it. A total of 15,000 square kilometers of land were eventually destroyed. Livestock was often shot to deprive peasants of their entire food supply. A total of 13,000 livestock were killed during the war.
The application of 72 million liters of chemical spray resulted in the death of many animals and caused health effects with humans. One chemical that was applied between 1962 and 1971, called Agent Orange, was particularly harmful. Its main constituent is dioxin, which was present in soil, water and vegetation during and after the war. Another source cites an estimated 20 million gallons of herbicide were used, decimating about 4.5 million acres in the countryside. Wells were also poisoned by chemicals.
*Kosovo war: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) investigated the environmental impact of the Kosovo war. It was concluded that the war did not result in an environmental disaster affecting the entire Balkan region. Nevertheless, some environmental hot spots were identified, namely Belgrade, Pancevo, Kragujevac, Novi Sad and Bor.
Bombings carried out by the United States resulted in leakages in oil refineries and oil storage depots. Other industrial sites were also targeted. EDC (1,2-dichloroethane), PCBs and mercury escaped to the environment. Burning of Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) resulted in the formation of dioxin, hydrochloric acid, carbon monoxide and PAHs, and oil burning released sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead and PAHs into the air. Heavy clouds of black smoke forming over burning industrial targets caused black rain to fall on the area around Pancevo. Bombings damaged National Parks in Serbia, reducing biodiversity. EDC, mercury and petroleum products (e.g. PCBs) polluted the Danube River. These are present in the sediments and may resurface in due time. EDC is toxic to both terrestrial and aquatic life. Mercury may be converted into methyl mercury, which is very toxic and bio accumulates. As a measure to prevent the consequences of bombing, a fertilizer plant in Pancevo released liquid ammonia into the Danube River. This caused fish kills up to 30 kilometers downstream.
*Central and South America: Current guerilla warfare in response to environmental destruction of rainforest and jungle ecosystems by industry. See “Deeply historical.”
*Erik Solheim, former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, on environmental devastation in Iraq:
“The smoke that billowed from the burning oil fields was so thick it blocked out the sun. By the time I reached Qayarrah, where Islamic State fighters had set fire to 18 oil wells, the fires were already out but a film of black soot had settled over the Iraqi town like toxic snow. Even the sheep had turned black."
“Pools of thick oil ran in the streets. That pollution was mixed with emissions from a nearby sulfur plant that the extremists had also set on fire as they retreated. Thousands of tons of pure sulfur burned for a full week, spewing as much sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere as a small volcanic eruption. Hundreds of people were hospitalized."
“The fires may have been extinguished, and Isis ousted from the city, but the environmental devastation caused by the battle for Mosul is predicted to linger for decades. The destruction of hospitals, weapons factories, industrial plants and power stations has left behind a toxic cocktail of chemicals, heavy metals and other harmful waste. Many of these pollutants are mixed up with unexploded bombs and mines in the vast amount of rubble generated by the fighting."
“Our team has already found high levels of lead and mercury in Mosul’s water and soil. This is the toxic legacy of one of the fiercest urban battles of the modern age.”
This list draws from research findings from sources that focus on environmental destruction, primarily from https://www.lenntech.com/environmental-effects-war.htm
Regional and global preservation and restoration projects are also ongoing, including the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) for the conservation, protection, restoration and sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystems for the 2020 decade. In addition to poems on environmental devastation, we welcome work that offers some glimpse of hope or redemption, whether that be nature's ability to rebound, a restoration project, or a philosophical point of view that puts humanity's warring ways and consequent environmental destruction in perspective.
*Near extinction of the American bison (buffalo): The U.S. Military undertook a campaign to remove Native Americans’ primary food source in the 19th century. Currently efforts transfer herds from federal to tribal lands and restore the grasslands they depend on. Tribes, including the Rosebud Sioux in South Dakota, steward tribal herds.
*Other environmental impacts of the European wars of colonization against the Indigenous peoples of North and South America. This includes undeclared wars such as the burning of Amazon rainforests, thereby driving Indigenous peoples from their homelands.
*Shipbuilding: historical use of oak and other trees depleted acres and acres of forest. Specificity as to geographic region and particular warship is helpful. See also “Deeply Historical” below.
*Cost to the environment of rebuilding bombed/ decimated cities or towns: Yet more construction materials are manufactured, which further depletes the natural environment (the need for lumber, minerals, petroleum products, etc.). Specific examples helpful.
*Significant resources are required to deliver food, water and shelter to civilians affected by conflict, and the humanitarian sector has a large carbon footprint. Fuel use is particularly high, mainly for logistics and to power the generators delivering vital electricity; in 2017 fuel cost an estimated $1.2 billion, or 5% of aid expenditure. Displaced persons camps can also release carbon.
*Trashed landscapes contaminated by depleted uranium or toxic gasses.
*Greenhouse gas emissions: The military is one of the most energy-intensive sectors in the world. Neither armaments nor the military appear in the Paris Climate Agreement, meaning that they are not obliged to report to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on their climate action and progress. Yet the global military sector heads the list of the world’s climate polluters.
*Oil production, storage or transportation infrastructure is often a target of fighting as has been the case in Colombia, Libya, Syria and Iraq. Fires and spills generate emissions, and at times oil infrastructure is actively weaponised.
*Explosives and heavy metals left behind in military training zones.
*Well poisonings, Vietnam (and possibly elsewhere). See “Vietnam.”
*Use of animals for military advantage or as war practice. Whales, for example, have been inadvertent targets.
Sixteen million animals “served” in World War I, and the RSPCA estimates that 484,143 horses, mules, camels and bullocks were killed in British service between 1914 and 1918. Some died before they reached the western front: of the 94,000 horses sent from North America in 1917, 2,700 drowned when their vessels were sunk by submarines. Trench dogs hunted for rats in the trenches. Others carried messages. The German army alone employed 30,000 dogs.
Historian Gregory A. Coco estimated there were 43,303 horses and 21,844 mules for the Army of the Potomac[ii] alone at or near Gettysburg, shot down in battle or struck by artillery projectiles behind the fighting lines. These animals fell in staggering numbers.
*World War I: Trench digging and poison gasses.
Digging trenches caused trampling of grassland, crushing of plants and animals, and churning of soil, and destroyed food
sources and nesting places of birds, fish, animals, and insects. Soil structures were altered severely, and if the war was never
fought, in all likelihood the landscape would have looked very different today. Erosion resulted from forest logging to expand
the network of trenches.
The application of poison gas had damaging impacts. Gasses that spread throughout the trenches to kill soldiers of the opposite
Front caused a total of 100,000 human deaths, but there were no counts of animal deaths, which had to have been severe. Examples of gasses applied during WWI are tear gas (aerosols causing eye irritation), mustard gas (cell toxic gas causing blistering and bleeding), and carbonyl chloride (a carcinogenic gas) which caused the most deaths. See “Use of animals for military advantage.”
*Deeply Historical: The armies of ancient Rome and Assyria, to ensure the total capitulation of their enemies, reportedly sowed salt into the cropland of their foes, making the soil useless for farming—an early use of military herbicide, and one of the most devastating environmental effects of war. Cedar trees used for commerce-the building of ships and fortifications. The Epic of Gilgamesh, the first known “novel” written on clay tablets, references the forests of Lebanon and the need to protect them.
*South America: When the Spanish conquered South America in the 16th century they took over the Incas’ mines and soon began to pump clouds of lead dust over the Andes. The silver the conquistadors sent back home made them wealthy. It also made them industrial-scale toxic metal air polluters.
*African Congo: National parks housing endangered species are often affected during warfare. Refugees hunt wildlife for bush meat, either to consume or sell it. Elephant and hippopotamus populations have declined due to poaching, which is prevalent during armed conflict. After a decade of war and social unrest in the region, aerial surveys of Congo's Virunga National Park found 629 hippopotamuses from a population that once exceeded 30,000 animals (Muir 2006).
*Mozambique Civil War: During this 15-year conflict (1977 to 1992) the Gorongosa National Park lost more than 90% of its animals. The African buffalo went from 14,000 to 100 individuals, and the hippopotamus population from 3,500 to 100. The elephant population declined from 2,000 to 200, as elephant meat was used to feed soldiers and the ivory used to finance the purchase of weapons, ammunition, and supplies. Zebras and hippopotamuses also declined. Meanwhile, the collapse of carnivore populations prompted behavioral changes in their prey. For example, when leopards and African wild dogs vanished from the park, the shy, forest-dwelling bushbuck, a type of antelope, began spending more time in open plains, where it feasted on new plants, suppressing the growth of native fauna.
*Rwanda Civil War: Refugees moved into Mountain Gorilla territory. Devastation of forests in Virunga National Park. Much of Rwanda's Akagera National Park was opened to refugees; as a result of this refugee influx, local populations of animals like the roan antelope and the eland became extinct.
*Somalia Civil War: Overfishing after the American Red Cross encouraged the consumption of freshwater fish to improve civilian diets. Fishermen ignored international fishing protocols.
*Sudan-Civil War: Extreme Drought and Famine. Farmers who did not flee along with other refugees tried to expand agricultural areas, leading to further desertification and soil erosion.
*Pearl Harbor: Leaking fuel from the Arizona and other ships caught fire, causing more ships to catch fire (air and water pollution). U.S. Military poisonings in Hawaii caused by the spread of chemicals.
*World Trade Center Explosion (Terrorism): As the planes hit the Twin Towers more than 90.000 liters of jet fuel burned at temperatures above 1000 Celsius. An atmospheric plume formed, consisting of toxic materials such as metals, furans, asbestos, dioxins, PAH, PCB and hydrochloric acid, affecting flora, fauna, air and soil as well as humans.
*Afghanistan war (U.S. War on Terrorism): Thousands of villages and their surrounding environments were destroyed. Safe drinking water declined due to destruction of water infrastructure and resulting leaks, bacterial contamination and water theft. Rivers and groundwater were contaminated by poorly constructed landfills. Taliban members illegally trading timber in Pakistan destroyed much of the forest cover. U.S. bombings and refugees in need of firewood destroyed much of what remained. Less than 2% of the country still contains a forest cover today.
Bombs threaten much of Afghanistan’s wildlife. One the world’s important migratory thoroughfare leads through Afghanistan.
The number of birds now flying this route has dropped by 85%. In the mountains many large animals such as leopards found
refuge, but much of the habitat is used as refuge for military forces now. Additionally, refugees capture leopards and other
large animals and trade them for safe passage across the border.
Pollution from application of explosives entered air, soil and water of Afghanistan. One example is cyclonite, a toxic substance
that may cause cancer.
*Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge regime resulted in deforestation, caused by extensive timber logging to finance war efforts, as well as agricultural clearance, construction, logging concessions and collection of wood fuels. A total 35% of the Cambodian forest cover was lost under the Maoist regime. Deforestation resulted in severe floods, damaging rice crops, causing food shortages and reducing wildlife habitat.
*Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The atomic blasts caused air pollution from dust particles and radioactive debris, and fires burned everywhere. Many plants and animals were killed in the blast, or died moments to months later from radioactive precipitation. Radioactive sand clogged wells used for drinking water. Surface water sources were polluted, particularly by radioactive waste. Agricultural production was damaged; dead stalks of rice could be found up to seven miles from ground zero. Today, a few meters from Hiroshima’s ground zero, a garden flourishes; Shukkei-en, the royal garden that became a public park in 1940, has been restored.
*Iraq and Kuwait: The Gulf War was one of the most environmentally devastating wars ever fought. Water, air and soil damage to the environment was extensive.
Water: Iraq dumped approximately one million tons of crude oil into the Persian Gulf, thereby causing the largest oil spill in history. Approximately 25,000 migratory birds were killed, but the impact on marine life was not as severe as expected, because warm water sped up the natural breakdown of oil. Local prawn fisheries did experience problems after the war. Crude oil was also spilled into the desert, forming oil lakes covering 50 square kilometers. In due time the oil percolated into groundwater aquifers.
During the war, many dams and sewage water treatment plants were targeted and destroyed. A lack of possibilities for water
treatment resulting from the attacks caused sewage to flow directly into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Additionally, pollutants seeped from bombed chemical plants into the rivers. Drinking water extracted from the river was polluted.
Air: Fleeing Iraqi troops ignited Kuwaiti oil sources, releasing half a ton of air pollutants into the atmosphere. Environmental problems caused by the oil fires include smog formation and acid rain. Toxic fumes originating from the burning oil wells compromised human health and threatened wildlife. A soot layer was deposited on the desert, covering plants, and thereby preventing them from breathing. Seawater was applied to extinguish the oil fires, resulting in increased salinity in areas close to oil wells. It took about nine months to extinguish the fires.
Soil: Movement of heavy machinery such as tanks through the desert damaged the brittle surface, causing soil erosion.
*Iraq & the United States: Water, air and soil contamination was extensive.
Water: Damage to sanitation structures by frequent bombing, and damage to sewage treatment systems by power blackouts
caused pollution of the River Tigris. Two hundred blue plastic containers containing uranium were stolen from a nuclear
power plant located south of Baghdad. The radioactive content of the barrels was dumped in rivers and the barrels were rinsed
out.
Air: Burning oil trenches, as in the Gulf War, resulted in air pollution. In Northern Iraq, a sulfur plant burned for one month, contributing to air pollution.
Soil: Military movements and weapon application result in land degradation. The destruction of military and industrial machinery releases heavy metals and other harmful substances.
*Israel & Lebanon: Israelis bombed a power station south of Beirut. Damaged storage tanks leaked an estimated 20,000 tons of oil into the Mediterranean Sea. The oil spill spread rapidly, covering over 90 km of the coastline, killing fish and affecting the habitat of the endangered green sea turtle. A sludge layer covered beaches across Lebanon.
*Russia & Chechnya: The war between Russia and its province continues today. It has devastating effects on the region of Chechnya. An estimated 30% of Chechen territory is contaminated, and 40% of the territory does not meet environmental standards for life. Major environmental problems include radioactive waste and radiation, oil leaks into the ground from bombarded plants and refineries, and pollution of soil and surface water. Russia has buried radioactive waste in Chechnya. Radiation at some sites is ten times its normal level. Groundwater pollution flows into the rivers Sunzha and Terek on a daily basis. In some locations the rivers are totally devoid of fish. Flora and fauna are destroyed by oil leaks and bombings.
*Vietnam: The spraying of herbicides and Agent Orange destroyed 14% of Vietnam’s forests, diminished agricultural yield, and made seeds unfit for replanting. If agricultural yield was not damaged by herbicides, it was often lost because military on the ground set fire to haystacks and soaked land with aviation fuel and burned it. A total of 15,000 square kilometers of land were eventually destroyed. Livestock was often shot to deprive peasants of their entire food supply. A total of 13,000 livestock were killed during the war.
The application of 72 million liters of chemical spray resulted in the death of many animals and caused health effects with humans. One chemical that was applied between 1962 and 1971, called Agent Orange, was particularly harmful. Its main constituent is dioxin, which was present in soil, water and vegetation during and after the war. Another source cites an estimated 20 million gallons of herbicide were used, decimating about 4.5 million acres in the countryside. Wells were also poisoned by chemicals.
*Kosovo war: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) investigated the environmental impact of the Kosovo war. It was concluded that the war did not result in an environmental disaster affecting the entire Balkan region. Nevertheless, some environmental hot spots were identified, namely Belgrade, Pancevo, Kragujevac, Novi Sad and Bor.
Bombings carried out by the United States resulted in leakages in oil refineries and oil storage depots. Other industrial sites were also targeted. EDC (1,2-dichloroethane), PCBs and mercury escaped to the environment. Burning of Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) resulted in the formation of dioxin, hydrochloric acid, carbon monoxide and PAHs, and oil burning released sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead and PAHs into the air. Heavy clouds of black smoke forming over burning industrial targets caused black rain to fall on the area around Pancevo. Bombings damaged National Parks in Serbia, reducing biodiversity. EDC, mercury and petroleum products (e.g. PCBs) polluted the Danube River. These are present in the sediments and may resurface in due time. EDC is toxic to both terrestrial and aquatic life. Mercury may be converted into methyl mercury, which is very toxic and bio accumulates. As a measure to prevent the consequences of bombing, a fertilizer plant in Pancevo released liquid ammonia into the Danube River. This caused fish kills up to 30 kilometers downstream.
*Central and South America: Current guerilla warfare in response to environmental destruction of rainforest and jungle ecosystems by industry. See “Deeply historical.”
*Erik Solheim, former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, on environmental devastation in Iraq:
“The smoke that billowed from the burning oil fields was so thick it blocked out the sun. By the time I reached Qayarrah, where Islamic State fighters had set fire to 18 oil wells, the fires were already out but a film of black soot had settled over the Iraqi town like toxic snow. Even the sheep had turned black."
“Pools of thick oil ran in the streets. That pollution was mixed with emissions from a nearby sulfur plant that the extremists had also set on fire as they retreated. Thousands of tons of pure sulfur burned for a full week, spewing as much sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere as a small volcanic eruption. Hundreds of people were hospitalized."
“The fires may have been extinguished, and Isis ousted from the city, but the environmental devastation caused by the battle for Mosul is predicted to linger for decades. The destruction of hospitals, weapons factories, industrial plants and power stations has left behind a toxic cocktail of chemicals, heavy metals and other harmful waste. Many of these pollutants are mixed up with unexploded bombs and mines in the vast amount of rubble generated by the fighting."
“Our team has already found high levels of lead and mercury in Mosul’s water and soil. This is the toxic legacy of one of the fiercest urban battles of the modern age.”