Old page wikitext, before the edit (old_wikitext ) | '[[File:BrennendeOelquellenKuwait1991.jpg|thumb|right|[[Kuwaiti oil fires|Kuwaiti oil fires set by retreating Iraqi forces]] during the [[Gulf War]] caused a dramatic decrease in air quality.]]
[[File:Defoliation agent spraying.jpg|Helicopter spraying Agent Orange|thumb|right|[[Agent Orange]], a [[herbicide]], being sprayed on farmland during the [[Vietnam War]]]]
Study of the '''environmental impact of war''' focuses on the modernization of [[warfare]] and its increasing effects on the [[Natural environment|environment]]. [[Scorched earth]] methods have been used for much of recorded history. However, methods of modern warfare cause far greater devastation on the [[environment (biophysical)|environment]]. The progression of warfare from [[chemical weapons]] to [[nuclear weapons]] has increasingly created stress on [[ecosystems]] and the [[Natural environment|environment]]. Specific examples of the environmental impact of war include: [[World War I]], [[World War II]], the [[Vietnam War]], the [[Rwandan Civil War]], the [[Kosovo War]] and the [[Gulf War]].
==Historical events==
=== Vietnam, Rwanda, and the environment ===
[[File:'Ranch Hand' run.jpg|thumb|Defoliant spray run, part of Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War by UC-123B Provider aircraft]]
The [[Vietnam War]] had significant environmental implications by the use of chemical agents to destroy military significant vegetation. Enemies found an advantage in remaining invisible by blending into a civilian population or by taking cover in dense vegetation and opposing armies targeted natural ecosystems.<ref name=dw>{{cite journal|last=DeWeerdt|first=Sarah|title=War and the Environment|journal=World Wide Watch|date=January 2008|volume=21|issue=1}}</ref> The US military used “more than 20 million gallons of [[herbicides]], were sprayed by the US to defoliate forests, clear growth along the borders of military sites and eliminate enemy crops."<ref name=king>{{cite news|last=King|first=Jessie|title=Vietnamese wildlife still paying a high price for chemical warfare|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/vietnamese-wildlife-still-paying-a-high-price-for-chemical-warfare-407060.html|accessdate=4 March 2015|newspaper=The Independent|date=8 July 2006}}</ref> The chemical agents gave the US an advantage in wartime efforts. However, the vegetation was unable to regenerate and left behind bare [[mudflats]] even years after spraying.<ref name=dw /> Not only was the vegetation affected, but also the wildlife: "a mid-1980s study by Vietnamese ecologists documented just 24 species of birds and 5 species of mammals present in sprayed forests and converted areas, compared to 145-170 bird species and 30-55 kinds of mammals in [[intact forest landscape|intact forest]]."<ref name=dw /> The uncertain long-term effects of these herbicides are now being discovered by looking at modified species distribution patterns through habitat degradation and loss in wetland systems, which absorbed the runoff from the mainland.<ref name=king />
The Rwandan genocide led to the killing of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The war created a massive migration of nearly 2 million Hutus fleeing [[Rwanda]] over the course of just a few weeks to [[refugee camps]] in [[Tanzania]] and now modern day [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]].<ref name=dw /> This large displacement of people in refugee camps put pressure on the surrounding [[ecosystem]]. Forests were cleared in order to provide wood for building shelters and creating cooking fires:<ref name=dw /> “these people suffered from harsh conditions and constituted an important threat impact to natural resources.”<ref name=sk /> Consequences from the conflict also included the degradation of National Parks and Reserves. The population crash in Rwanda shifted personnel and capital to other parts of the country, making it hard to protect wildlife.<ref name=sk>{{cite journal|last=Kanyamibwa|first=Samuel|title=Impact of war on conservation: Rwandan environment and wildlife in agony|journal=Biodiversity and Conservation|year=1998|pages=1399–1406|doi=10.1023/a:1008880113990|volume=7|issue=11}}</ref>
More broadly throughout Africa, war has been a major factor in the decline of wildlife populations inside national parks and other protected areas.<ref name=DaskinPringle>{{cite journal|last1=Daskin|first1=Joshua H.|last2=Pringle |first2=Robert M. |title=Warfare and wildlife declines in Africa's protected areas |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25194 |journal=Nature |volume=553 |issue=7688|pages=328–332 |year=2018 |pmid=29320475 |doi=10.1038/nature25194}}</ref> However, a growing number of ecological restoration initiatives, including in Rwanda's [[Akagera National Park]] and Mozambique's [[Gorongosa National Park]], have shown that wildlife populations and whole ecosystems can be successfully rehabilitated even after devastating conflicts.<ref name=Pringle>{{cite journal|last=Pringle|first1=Robert M. |title=Upgrading protected areas to conserve wild biodiversity |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22902 |journal=Nature |volume=546 |issue=7656 |pages=91–99 |year=2017 |pmid=28569807 |doi=10.1038/nature22902}}</ref> Experts have emphasized that solving social, economic, and political problems is essential for the success of such efforts.<ref name=sk /><ref name=DaskinPringle /><ref name=Pringle />
===World War II===
World War II (WW II) drove a vast increase in production, militarized the production and transportation of commodity, while introducing many new environmental consequences, which can still be seen today. World War II was wide ranging in its human, animals, and material destruction. The postwar effects of World War II, both ecological and social, are still visible decades after the conflict.
During World War II, new technology was used to create aircraft, which were used in air raids. Aircraft during the war were used for transporting resources from different military bases and dropping bombs on enemy, neutral, and friendly targets alike. These activities damaged habitats.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Evenden|first=Matthew|date=2011|title=Aluminum, commodity chain, and the environmental history of the second world war|url=|journal=Environmental History|volume=|pages=69 – 93|via=}}</ref>
Similar to wildlife, ecosystems also suffer from the production of the [[noise pollution]] from military aircraft. During World War II, aircraft acted as a vector for the transportation of exotics whereby weeds and cultivated species were bought to oceanic island ecosystems by way of aircraft landing strips used for refueling and staging station during operations in the Pacific theatre.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stoddart|date=1968|title=Catastrophic human interference with coral atoll ecosystems|url=|journal=Geography|volume=|pages=25 – 40|via=}}</ref> Before the war, the isolated islands around Europe were the habitat of a high number of endemic species. Aerial warfare during World War II had an enormous influence on fluctuating population dynamics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Lawrence|first=Michael|date=2015|title=The effects of modern war and military activities on biodiversity and the environment|url=|journal=Environmental Review|volume=|pages=443 – 460|via=}}</ref>
After four years of World War II in August 1945, the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima in Japan. About 70,000 people died in nine seconds at the bombing in Hiroshima, which was comparable to that of the devastating [[Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945)|Operation Meetinghouse]] air raid over Tokyo. Three days after the bombing in Hiroshima, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on the industrial city of Nagasaki, instantly killing 35,000 people.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.sjenvironmentaljustice.org/atomic-bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/|title=Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref> The nuclear weapon released a catastrophic load of energy. The temperature once the bombs were blasted reached about 7200°F.<ref name=":1" /> With temperature that high, all the flora and fauna are destroyed along with the infrastructure and human life in the impact zone.<ref name=":0" /> When the atomic bomb was dropped, it released enormous quantity of energy and radioactive particles. The radioactive particles released contaminated the land and water for miles.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://sciencing.com/environmental-effects-atomic-bomb-8203814.html|title=Environmental Effects of the Atomic Bomb|last=Lemon|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref> The initial blast increased the surface temperature, along with the crushing winds caused by the initial blast, trees and buildings in the path were all destroyed.<ref name=":2" />
European forests experienced traumatic impacts from fighting during the war. Behind the combat zones, timber from cut down trees to clear up the path for fighting. The shattered forests in the battle zones faced exploitation.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Tucker|first=Richard|date=2012|title=War and the Environment|url=|journal=A Companion to Global Environmental History|volume=|pages=319 – 339|via=}}</ref>
The use of heavily hazardous chemicals was first initiated during World War II.<ref name=":3" /> The long-term effects of chemicals result from both their potential persistence and the poor disposal program of nations with stockpiled weapons.<ref name=":0" /> During World War I (WW I), German chemists had developed chlorine gas and mustard gas. The development of the gases led to many casualties, and poisoned lands on and near the battlefields.<ref name=":3" />
Later in World War II, chemists developed even more harmful chemical bombs, which were packaged in barrels and directly deposited in the oceans.<ref name=":0" /> The disposal of the chemicals in ocean runs the risk of metal-based containers corroding and leaching the chemical contents of the vessel into the ocean.<ref name=":0" /> Through the chemical disposal in the ocean, the contaminates may be spread throughout the various components of the ecosystems damaging marine and terrestrial ecosystems.<ref name=":3" />
Marine ecosystems during World War II were damaged not only from chemical contaminates, but also from wreckage from naval ships, which leaked oil into the water. Oil contamination in the Atlantic Ocean due to World War II shipwrecks is estimated at over 15 million tonnes.<ref name=":0" /> Oil spills are difficult to clean up and take many years to clean. To this day, traces of oil can still be found in the Atlantic Ocean from the naval shipwrecks which happened during World War II.
The use of chemicals during war helped increase the scale of chemical industries and helped show the government the value of scientific research to the government. The development of chemical research during the war also lead to the postwar development of agricultural pesticides.<ref name=":3" /> The creation of pesticides was an upside for the years after the war.
The environmental impacts of World War II were very drastic, which allowed them to be seen in the Cold War and be seen today. The impacts of conflict, chemical contaminations, and aerial warfare all contribute to reduction in the population of global flora and fauna, as well as a reduction in species diversity.<ref name=":0" />
===Gulf War===
During the 1991 [[Gulf War]], the [[Kuwaiti oil fires]] were a result of the scorched earth policy of Iraqi military forces retreating from [[Kuwait]] in 1991 after conquering the country but being driven out by [[Coalition of Gulf War|Coalition]] military forces. The [[Gulf War oil spill]], regarded as the worst oil spill in history, was caused when Iraqi forces opened valves at the Sea Island oil terminal and dumped oil from several tankers into the [[Persian Gulf]].
Some American military personnel complained of [[Gulf War syndrome]], typified by symptoms including immune system disorders and birth defects in their children. Whether it is due to time spent in active service during the war or for other reasons remains controversial.
{{Further|Environmental impact of Gulf wars}}
== Environmental hazards ==
{{see also|Environmental issue}}
[[Resources]] are a key source of [[Conflict (process)|conflict]] between [[nation]]s: "after the end of the [[Cold War]] in particular, many have suggested that [[environmental degradation]] will exacerbate scarcities and become an additional source of armed conflict."<ref name=gled>{{cite book|last=Gledistch|first=Nils|title=Conflict and the Environment|year=1997|publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers}}</ref> A nation’s survival depends on resources from the environment.<ref name=gled /> Resources that are a source of armed conflict include territory, strategic raw materials, sources of energy, water, and food.<ref name=gled /> In order to maintain resource stability, chemical and nuclear warfare have been used by nations in order to protect or extract resources, and during conflict.<ref name=gled /><ref name=rob /> These agents of war have been used frequently: “about 125,000 tons of [[chemical agent]] were employed during World War I, and about 96,000 tons during the Viet-Nam conflict.”<ref name=rob /> [[Nerve gas]], also known as organophosphorous anticholinesterases, was used at lethal levels against human beings and destroyed a high number of nonhuman [[vertebrate]] and [[invertebrate]] populations.<ref name=rob>{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=J.P|title=The Effects of Weapons on Ecosystems|year=1979|publisher=Pergamon Press}}</ref> However, contaminated vegetation would mostly be spared, and would only pose a threat to herbivores.<ref name=rob /> The result of innovations in chemical warfare led to a broad range of different chemicals for war and domestic use, but also resulted in unforeseen environmental damage.
The progression of warfare and its effects on the environment continued with the invention of [[weapons of mass destruction]]. While today, [[weapons of mass destruction]] act as deterrents and the use of weapons of mass destruction during [[World War II]] created significant environmental destruction. On top of the great loss in human life, “natural resources are usually the first to suffer: forests and wild life animals are wiped out.”<ref name=gled /> [[Nuclear warfare]] imposes both direct and indirect effects on the environment. The physical destruction due to the blast or by the biospheric damage due to [[ionizing]] [[radiation]] or [[radiotoxicity]] directly effect [[ecosystems]] within the blast radius.<ref name=rob /> Also, the atmospheric or geospheric disturbances caused by the weapons can lead to weather and climate changes.<ref name=rob />
===Unexploded ordnance===
{{Main|Unexploded ordnance}}
Military campaigns require large quantities of [[explosive weapon]]s, a fraction of which will not [[detonate]] properly and leave unexploded weapons. This creates a serious physical and chemical hazard for the civilian populations living in areas which were once war zones, due to the possibility of detonation after the conflict, as well as the leaching of chemicals into the soil and groundwater.
===Agent Orange===
{{Main|Agent Orange}}
[[File:Before and after spraying agent orange.jpg|thumb|Mangrove forests, like the top one east of Saigon, were often destroyed by herbicides.]]
[[Agent Orange]] was one of the [[herbicide]]s and [[defoliant]]s used by the [[British military]] during the [[Malayan Emergency]] and the [[United States armed forces|U.S. military]] in its [[herbicidal warfare]] program, [[Operation Ranch Hand]], during the [[Vietnam War]]. An estimated 21,136,000 gal. (80 000 m³) of Agent Orange were sprayed across South Vietnam,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.va.gov/Agentorange/ |title=Agent Orange |publisher= United States Department of Veterans |date=January 9, 2008 |accessdate=2008-08-18}}</ref> exposing 4.8 million Vietnamese people to Agent Orange, and resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects.<ref>The Globe and Mail, June 12, 2008. [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080711.worange1107/BNStory/Front/home/?pageRequested=all 'Last Ghost of the Vietnam War']</ref> Many Commonwealth personnel who handled and/or used Agent Orange during and decades after the 1948-1960 Malayan conflict suffered from serious exposure of dioxin. Agent Orange also caused major [[soil erosion]] to areas in Malaya. An estimated 10,000 civilians and possibly insurgents in Malaya also suffered heavily from defoliant effects, though many historians likely agreed it was more than 10,000 given that Agent Orange was used on a large scale in the Malayan conflict and unlike the U.S., the British government manipulated the numbers and kept its secret very tight in fear of negative world public opinion.<ref>{{cite book |title=Pesticide Dilemma in the Third World: A Case Study of Malaysia |pages=23 |publisher=Phoenix Press |year=1984}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Dioxins and Health |pages=145–160 |author=Arnold Schecter, Thomas A. Gasiewicz |date=July 4, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Chemical and Biological Warfare: A Reference Handbook |pages=178–180 |author=Albert J. Mauroni |year=July 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Global Politics of Pesticides: Forging Consensus from Conflicting Interests |page=61 |author=Bruce Cumings |year=1998 |publisher=[[Earthscan]]}}</ref>
===Testing of nuclear armaments===
{{main|Nuclear weapons testing}}
Testing of [[nuclear armament]]s has been carried out at various places including [[Bikini Atoll]], the [[Marshall Islands]] [[Pacific Proving Grounds]], [[New Mexico]] in the US, [[Mururoa Atoll]], [[Maralinga, South Australia|Maralinga]] in Australia, and [[Novaya Zemlya]] in the former Soviet Union, among others.
[[Downwinders]] are individuals and communities who are exposed to [[radioactive contamination]] and/or [[nuclear fallout]] from atmospheric and/or underground [[nuclear weapons testing]], and [[nuclear accidents]].
===Strontium 90===
The United States government studied the post-war effects of a radioactive isotope found in nuclear fallout called [[Strontium 90]]. The Atomic Energy Commission discovered that “Sr-90, which is chemically similar to calcium, can accumulate in bones and possibly lead to cancer”.<ref name=Lutts>{{cite journal|last=Lutts|first=Ralph|title=Chemical Fallout: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Radioactive Fallout, and the Environmental Movement|journal=Environmental Review|year=1985|volume=9|issue=3|series=3|pages=210–225|doi=10.2307/3984231|jstor=3984231}}</ref> Sr-90 found its way into humans through the ecological food chain as fallout in the soil, was picked up by plants, further concentrated in herbivorous animals, and eventually consumed by humans.<ref name=Kulp>{{cite journal|last=Kulp|first=J. Laurence|title=Strontium-90 in Man|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|year=1957|series=AEC Fifth Semiannual Report: Part II|page=219}}</ref>
===Depleted uranium munitions===
{{main|Depleted uranium}}
The use of depleted uranium in [[munitions]] is controversial because of numerous questions about potential long-term health effects.<ref name=MillerMcClain /> Normal functioning of the [[kidney]], [[brain]], [[liver]], [[heart]], and numerous other systems can be affected by uranium exposure, because in addition to being weakly radioactive, uranium is a [[toxic metal]].<ref name=Craft04>{{cite journal |last1=Craft |first1=Elena |last2=Abu-Qare |first2=Aquel |last3=Flaherty |first3=Meghan |last4=Garofolo |first4=Melissa |last5=Rincavage |first5=Heather |last6=Abou-Donia |first6=Mohamed |title=Depleted and natural uranium: chemistry and toxicological effects |journal=Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=297–317 |year=2004 |pmid=15205046 |doi=10.1080/10937400490452714|citeseerx=10.1.1.535.5247 }}</ref> It remains weakly radioactive because of its long [[half-life]]. The aerosol produced during impact and combustion of depleted uranium munitions can potentially contaminate wide areas around the impact sites or can be inhaled by civilians and military personnel.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mitsakou |first1=C. |last2=Eleftheriadis |first2=K. |last3=Housiadas |first3=C. |last4=Lazaridis |first4=M. |title=Modeling of the dispersion of depleted uranium aerosol |journal=Health Physics |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=538–44 |year=2003 |pmid=12705453 |doi=10.1097/00004032-200304000-00014}}</ref> In a three-week period of conflict in Iraq during 2003, it was estimated over 1000 tons of depleted uranium munitions were used mostly in cities.<ref name="gaurdian2003">Paul Brown, [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/apr/25/internationaleducationnews.armstrade Gulf troops face tests for cancer] ''guardian.co.uk'' 25 April 2003, Retrieved February 3, 2009</ref> The [[U.S. Department of Defense]] claims that no human [[cancer]] of any type has been seen as a result of exposure to either natural or depleted uranium.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://fhp.osd.mil/du/healthEffects.jsp
|title = Toxicological profile for uranium
|author = U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense
|deadurl = yes
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20071123082540/http://fhp.osd.mil/du/healthEffects.jsp
|archivedate = 2007-11-23
|df =
}}</ref>
Yet, U.S. DoD studies using cultured cells and laboratory rodents continue to suggest the possibility of [[leukemia|leukemogenic]], [[gene]]tic, [[reproduction|reproductive]], and [[neurological]] effects from chronic exposure.<ref name=MillerMcClain>{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=AC |last2=McClain |first2=D |title=A review of depleted uranium biological effects: in vitro and in vivo studies. |journal=Reviews on Environmental Health |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=75–89 |year=2007 |pmid=17508699 |doi=10.1515/REVEH.2007.22.1.75}}</ref>
In addition, the UK Pensions Appeal Tribunal Service in early 2004 attributed [[birth defect]] claims from a February 1991 [[Gulf War]] combat veteran to depleted uranium [[poison]]ing.<ref>Williams, M. (February 9, 2004) [http://vitw.org/archives/405 "First Award for Depleted Uranium Poisoning Claim,"] ''The Herald Online,'' (Edinburgh: Herald Newspapers, Ltd.)</ref> Campaign Against Depleted Uranium (Spring, 2004)<ref>[http://www.cadu.org.uk/news/17.htm#icbuw "MoD Forced to Pay Pension for DU Contamination,"] ''CADU News 17''</ref> Also, a 2005 [[epidemiology]] review concluded: "In aggregate the human epidemiological evidence is consistent with increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU."<ref name="Hindin">{{cite journal |last1=Hindin |first1=Rita |last2=Brugge |first2=Doug |last3=Panikkar |first3=Bindu|title=Teratogenicity of depleted uranium aerosols: A review from an epidemiological perspective |journal=Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source |volume=4 |pages=17 |year=2005 |doi=10.1186/1476-069X-4-17 |pmid=16124873 |pmc=1242351}}</ref>
===Fossil fuel use===
With the high degree of mechanization of the military large amounts of [[fossil fuel]]s are used. Fossil fuels are a major contributor to [[global warming]] and [[climate change]], issues of increasing concern. Access to oil resources is also a factor for instigating a war.
The [[United States Department of Defense]] (DoD) is a government body with the highest use of fossil fuel in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.energybulletin.net/node/13199|title=The US military oil consumption|last=Karbuz|first=Sohbet |date=2006-02-25|publisher=Energy Bulletin|accessdate=2009-09-12}}</ref> According to the 2005 ''CIA World Factbook'', when compared with the consumption per country the DoD would rank 34th in the world in average daily oil use, coming in just behind Iraq and just ahead of Sweden.<ref>Colonel Gregory J. Lengyel, USAF, The Brookings Institution, Department of Defense Energy Strategy, August 2007, {{cite web|url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2007/08defense_lengyel/lengyel20070815.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-09-12 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726045834/http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2007/08defense_lengyel/lengyel20070815.pdf |archivedate=2010-07-26 |df= }}</ref>
===Intentional flooding===
Flooding can be used as [[scorched earth]] policy through using water to render land unusable. It can also be used to prevent the movement of enemy combatants. During the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], dykes on the Yellow and the Yangtze Rivers [[1938 Yellow River flood|were breached to halt the advance of Japanese forces]]. Also during the [[Siege of Leiden]] in 1573 the dykes were breached to halt the advance of Spanish forces. During Operation Chastise in Germany during WW2 the Eder and Sorpe river dams were bombed flooding a large area and halting industrial manufacture used by the Germans in the war effort.
==Specific cases==
*[[1938 Yellow River flood]], created by the Nationalist Government in central China during the early stage of the Second Sino-Japanese War in an attempt to halt the rapid advance of the Japanese forces. It has been called the "largest act of environmental warfare in history".
*[[Beaufort's Dyke]], used as a dumping ground for bombs
*[[Jiyeh Power Station oil spill]], bombed by the Israeli Air force during the [[2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict]].
*[[Formerly Used Defense Sites]], a U.S. military program which is responsible for environmental restoration
*[[K5 Plan]], an attempt between 1985 and 1989 by the government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea to seal Khmer Rouge guerrilla infiltration routes into Cambodia, resulted in environmental degradation.
== Militarism and the environment ==
Human security has traditionally been solely linked to military activities and defense.<ref name=":4">International Peace Bureau. (2002). The Military’s Impact on The Environment: A Neglected Aspect Of The Sustainable Development Debate A Briefing Paper For States And Non-Governmental Organisations, Retrieved from: <nowiki>http://www.ipb.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/briefing-paper.pdf</nowiki> </ref> Scholars and institutions like the International Peace Bureau are now increasingly calling for a more holistic approach to security, particularly including an emphasis on the interconnections and interdependencies that exist between humans and the environment.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Jorgenson|first=Andrew K.|last2=Clark|first2=Brett|date=2016-05-01|title=The temporal stability and developmental differences in the environmental impacts of militarism: the treadmill of destruction and consumption-based carbon emissions|journal=Sustainability Science|language=en|volume=11|issue=3|pages=505–514|doi=10.1007/s11625-015-0309-5|issn=1862-4065}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> Military activity has significant impacts on the environment.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2014/07/25/us-department-defence-one-worlds-biggest-polluters-259456.html|title=The US Department of Defense Is One of the World's Biggest Polluters|date=2014-07-17|work=Newsweek|access-date=2018-05-26|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Bradford|first=John Hamilton|last2=Stoner|first2=Alexander M.|date=2017-08-11|title=The Treadmill of Destruction in Comparative Perspective: A Panel Study of Military Spending and Carbon Emissions, 1960-2014|url=http://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/jwsr/article/view/688|journal=Journal of World-Systems Research|language=en|volume=23|issue=2|pages=298–325|doi=10.5195/jwsr.2017.688|issn=1076-156X}}</ref> Not only can war be destructive to the socioenvironment, but military activities produce extensive amounts of [[greenhouse gas]]es (that contribute to [[anthropogenic climate change]]), [[pollution]], and cause resource depletion, among other environmental impacts.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6" />
=== Greenhouse gas emissions and pollution ===
Several studies have found a strong positive correlation between military spending and increased greenhouse gas emissions, with the impact of military spending on carbon emissions being more pronounced for countries of the Global North (ie: OECD developed countries).<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":5" /> Accordingly, the US military is estimated to be the number one fossil fuel consumer in the world.<ref name=":7">Schwartz, M. et al. (2012) Department of Defense Energy Initiatives: Background and Issues for Congress. Congressional Research Service, [Online] Available at: <nowiki>http://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42558.pdf</nowiki></ref>
Additionally, military activities involve high emissions of pollution<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2014/07/25/us-department-defence-one-worlds-biggest-polluters-259456.html|title=The US Department of Defense Is One of the World's Biggest Polluters|last=Nazaryan|first=|date=2014-07-17|work=Newsweek|access-date=2018-05-26|language=en}}</ref>. The Pentagon’s director of environment, safety and occupational health, Maureen Sullivan, has stated that they work with approximately 39 000 contaminated sites<ref name=":8" />. Indeed, the US military is also considered one of the largest generators of pollution in the world<ref name=":8" />. Combined, the top five US chemical companies only produce one fifth of the toxins produced by the Pentagon<ref name=":4" />. In Canada, the Department of National Defence readily admits it is the largest energy consumer of the Government of Canada, and a consumer of “high volumes of hazardous materials”<ref>Department of National Defence Canada (2017). Defence Energy and Environment Strategy. Retrieved from the Government of Canada Website: <nowiki>https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/dnd-mdn/documents/reports/2017/20171004-dees-en.pdf</nowiki> </ref>.
Military pollution is a worldwide occurrence.<ref name=":4" /> Armed forces from around the world were responsible for the emission of two thirds of [[Chlorofluorocarbon|chlorofluorocarbons]] (CFCs) that were banned in the 1987 [[Montreal Protocol]] for causing damage to the [[Ozone depletion|ozone layer]]<ref name=":4" />. In addition, naval accidents during the Cold War have dropped at minimum 50 nuclear warheads and 11 nuclear reactors into the ocean, they remain on the ocean floor<ref name=":4" />.
=== Land and resource use ===
Military land use needs (such as for bases, training, storage etc) often displace people from their lands and homes<ref name=":4" />. Military activity uses solvents, fuels and other toxic chemicals which can leach toxins into the environment that remain there for decades and even centuries.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":4" /> Furthermore, heavy military vehicles can cause damage to soil and infrastructure.<ref name=":4" /> Military-caused noise pollution can also diminish the quality of life for nearby communities as well as their ability to rear or hunt animals to support themselves.<ref name=":4" /> Advocates raise concerns of environmental racism and/or environmental injustice as it is largely marginalized communities that are displaced and/or affected.<ref name=":9">Lorincz, T. (2014). Demilitarization for Deep Decarbonization: Reducing Militarism and Military Expenditures to Invest in the UN Green Climate Fund and to Create Low-Carbon Economies and Resilient Communities. Retrieved from The International Peace Bureau Website: <nowiki>http://www.ipb.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Green_Booklet_working_paper_17.09.2014.pdf</nowiki></ref><ref name=":4" />
Militaries are also highly resource intensive.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":9" /> Weapons and military equipment make up the second largest international trade sector.<ref name=":4" /> The International Peace Bureau says that more than fifty percent of the helicopters in the world are for military use, and approximately twenty-five percent of jet fuel consumption is by military vehicles.<ref name=":4" /> These vehicles are also extremely inefficient, carbon intensive, and discharge emissions that are more toxic than those of other vehicles.<ref name=":9" />
=== Activist responses ===
Military funding is, at present, higher than ever before, and activists are concerned about the implication for greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.<ref name=":9" /> They advocate for demilitarization, citing the high greenhouse gas emissions and support the redirection of those funds to climate action.<ref name=":9" /> Currently the world spends about 2.2% of global GDP on military funding according to the World Bank<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS|title=Military expenditure (% of GDP) {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|language=en-us|access-date=2018-05-26}}</ref>. It is estimated that it would cost approximately one percent of global GDP yearly until 2030 to reverse the climate crisis<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ourworldindata.org/how-much-will-it-cost-to-mitigate-climate-change|title=How much will it cost to mitigate climate change?|website=Our World in Data|access-date=2018-05-26}}</ref>. Moreover, activists emphasize the need for prevention and the avoidance of costly clean up<ref name=":9" />. Currently, the expense for cleaning up military contaminated site is at least $500 billion<ref name=":4" />. Finally, activists point to social issues such as extreme poverty and advocate for more funding to be redirected from military expenses to these causes<ref name=":9" />.
Groups working for demilitarization and peace include the [[International Peace Bureau]], [[Canadian Voice of Women for Peace]], The Rideau Institute, Ceasefire.ca, [[Project Ploughshares]], and [[Code Pink|Codepink]]. See [[List of anti-war organizations]] for more groups.
=== The military's positive effects on the environment ===
There are examples from around the world of nations’ armed forces aiding in land management and conservation<ref name=":10">D’Souza, E. (1994). The potential of the military in environmental protection: India. Unasylva – FAO. 46. Available at: <nowiki>http://www.fao.org/docrep/v7850e/V7850e12.htm#The%20potential%20of%20the%20military%20in%20environmental%20protection:%20India</nowiki> </ref>. For example, in Bhuj, India, military forces stationed there helped to reforest the area; in Venezuela, it is part of the [[Venezuelan National Guard|National Guard]]’s responsibilities to protect natural resources.<ref name=":10" /> Additionally, military endorsement of environmentally friendly technology such as renewable energy may have the potential to generate public support for these technologies<ref>Light. S. (2014)b Interview by Knowledge@Wharton The Surprising Role the Military Plays in Environmental Protection [Print Interview]. Retrieved from: <nowiki>http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/military-environmental-protection/</nowiki> </ref>. Finally, certain military technologies like GPS and drones are helping environmental scientists, conservationists, ecologists and restoration ecologists conduct better research, monitoring, and remediation<ref>Lawrence, M. et al. 2015. The effects of modern war and military activities on biodiversity and the environment. ''Environ. Rev. 23: 443–460'' dx.doi.org/10.1139/er-2015-0039</ref>.
==War and environmental law==
{{main|War and environmental law}}
From a legal standpoint, environmental protection during times of war and military activities is addressed partially by international environmental law. Further sources are also found in areas of law such as general international law, the [[laws of war]], [[human rights law]] and local laws of each affected country.
==See also==
*[[Biological warfare]]
*[[Environmental effects of the Syrian Civil War]]
*[[List of environmental issues]]
*[[War crimes]]
*[[Scorched earth]]
*[[Nuclear winter]]
==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=35em}}
==Further reading==
<!-- * {{cite book|author=|title=|publisher=|year=|isbn=|url=}} -->
*{{cite book|editors=Austin, J.E. & Bruch, Carl E.|title=The Environmental Consequences of War: Legal, Economic, and Scientific Perspectives|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2000|isbn=9780521780209|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OJKFkSkgTyIC&printsec=frontcover}}
* {{cite book|author=Brauer, Jurgen|title=War and Nature: The Environmental Consequences of War in a Globalized World|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2009|isbn=9780759112063|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=du7s13DfKC8C&printsec=frontcover}}
* {{cite book|authors=El- Baz, Farouk & Makharita, Ragaa Mohamed|title=The Gulf War and the Environment|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1994|isbn=9782881246494|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2cmmgwUJH98C&printsec=frontcover}}
*{{cite book|authors=McNeill, J.R. & Painter, David S.|chapter=The Global Environmental Footprint of the U.S. Military: 1789-2003|editor=Closman, Charles E.|title=War and the Environment: Military Destruction in the Modern Age|publisher=Texas A&M Press|year=2009|isbn=9781603441698|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zjs0teljUjQC&pg=PA10}}
* {{cite book|editors=McNeill, J.R. & Unger, Corina|title=Environmental Histories of the Cold War|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780521762441|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hs-SHscWdYgC&printsec=frontcover}}
* {{cite book|editor=Price, Andrew R.G.|title=The 1991 Gulf War: Environmental Assessments of IUCN and Collaborators|publisher=IUCN|year=1994|isbn=9782831702056|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_okDDKq5NCwC&printsec=frontcover}}
* {{cite book|editors=Ṣādiq, Muḥammad & McCain, John Charles|title=The Gulf War Aftermath: An Environmental Tragedy|publisher=Springer|year=1993|isbn=9780792322788|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y-dp1DKdkUMC&printsec=frontcover}}
* {{cite book|author=Westing, Arthur H. (ed)|chapter=Constraints on military disruption of the biosphere: an overview|title=Cultural Norms, War and the Environment|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1988|isbn=9780198291251|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Js-oxRiRoQkC&pg=PA1}}
* {{cite book|editor=William Burr|title="Clean" Nukes and the Ecology of Nuclear War|publisher=The National Security Archive|year=2017|url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/nuclear-vault/2017-08-30/clean-nukes-ecology-nuclear-war}}
==External links==
*[http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList277/8DA60E8AB11FACE0C1256C22003B8520 Protection of the Environment During Armed Conflict]
*[http://www.eisil.org/index.php?sid=248403119&cat=429&t=sub_pages Armed Conflict and Protection of the Environment]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080219014107/http://www2.eli.org/research/war.htm Addressing Environmental Consequences of War] A program of the [[Environmental Law Institute]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090204123107/http://www.iucn.org/en/news/archive/2001_2005/press/iraqstatement210303.pdf Armed Conflict and the Environment: IUCN Statement]
{{Human impact on the environment}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Environmental Issues With War}}
[[Category:Aftermath of war]]
[[Category:Environmental impact of war| ]]' |
New page wikitext, after the edit (new_wikitext ) | '[[File:BrennendeOelquellenKuwait1991.jpg|thumb|right|[[Kuwaiti oil fires|Kuwaiti oil fires set by retreating Iraqi forces]] during the [[Gulf War]] caused a dramatic decrease in air quality.]]
[[File:Defoliation agent spraying.jpg|Helicopter spraying Agent Orange|thumb|right|[[Agent Orange]], a [[herbicide]], being sprayed on farmland during the [[Vietnam War]]]]
Study of the '''environmental impact of war''' focuses on the modernization of [[warfare]] and its increasing effects on the [[Natural environment|environment]]. [[Scorched earth]] methods have been used for much of recorded history. However, methods of modern warfare cause far greater devastation on the [[environment (biophysical)|environment]]. The progression of warfare from [[chemical weapons]] to [[nuclear weapons]] has increasingly created stress on [[ecosystems]] and the [[Natural environment|environment]]. Specific examples of the environmental impact of war include: [[World War I]], [[World War II]], the [[Vietnam War]], the [[Rwandan Civil War]], the [[Kosovo War]] and the [[Gulf War]].
==Historical events==
===World War II===
World War II (WW II) drove a vast increase in production, militarized the production and transportation of commodity, while introducing many new environmental consequences, which can still be seen today. World War II was wide ranging in its human, animals, and material destruction. The postwar effects of World War II, both ecological and social, are still visible decades after the conflict.
During World War II, new technology was used to create aircraft, which were used in air raids. Aircraft during the war were used for transporting resources from different military bases and dropping bombs on enemy, neutral, and friendly targets alike. These activities damaged habitats.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Evenden|first=Matthew|date=2011|title=Aluminum, commodity chain, and the environmental history of the second world war|url=|journal=Environmental History|volume=|pages=69 – 93|via=}}</ref>
Similar to wildlife, ecosystems also suffer from the production of the [[noise pollution]] from military aircraft. During World War II, aircraft acted as a vector for the transportation of exotics whereby weeds and cultivated species were bought to oceanic island ecosystems by way of aircraft landing strips used for refueling and staging station during operations in the Pacific theatre.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stoddart|date=1968|title=Catastrophic human interference with coral atoll ecosystems|url=|journal=Geography|volume=|pages=25 – 40|via=}}</ref> Before the war, the isolated islands around Europe were the habitat of a high number of endemic species. Aerial warfare during World War II had an enormous influence on fluctuating population dynamics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Lawrence|first=Michael|date=2015|title=The effects of modern war and military activities on biodiversity and the environment|url=|journal=Environmental Review|volume=|pages=443 – 460|via=}}</ref>
After four years of World War II in August 1945, the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima in Japan. About 70,000 people died in nine seconds at the bombing in Hiroshima, which was comparable to that of the devastating [[Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945)|Operation Meetinghouse]] air raid over Tokyo. Three days after the bombing in Hiroshima, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on the industrial city of Nagasaki, instantly killing 35,000 people.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.sjenvironmentaljustice.org/atomic-bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/|title=Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref> The nuclear weapon released a catastrophic load of energy. The temperature once the bombs were blasted reached about 7200°F.<ref name=":1" /> With temperature that high, all the flora and fauna are destroyed along with the infrastructure and human life in the impact zone.<ref name=":0" /> When the atomic bomb was dropped, it released enormous quantity of energy and radioactive particles. The radioactive particles released contaminated the land and water for miles.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://sciencing.com/environmental-effects-atomic-bomb-8203814.html|title=Environmental Effects of the Atomic Bomb|last=Lemon|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref> The initial blast increased the surface temperature, along with the crushing winds caused by the initial blast, trees and buildings in the path were all destroyed.<ref name=":2" />
European forests experienced traumatic impacts from fighting during the war. Behind the combat zones, timber from cut down trees to clear up the path for fighting. The shattered forests in the battle zones faced exploitation.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Tucker|first=Richard|date=2012|title=War and the Environment|url=|journal=A Companion to Global Environmental History|volume=|pages=319 – 339|via=}}</ref>
The use of heavily hazardous chemicals was first initiated during World War II.<ref name=":3" /> The long-term effects of chemicals result from both their potential persistence and the poor disposal program of nations with stockpiled weapons.<ref name=":0" /> During World War I (WW I), German chemists had developed chlorine gas and mustard gas. The development of the gases led to many casualties, and poisoned lands on and near the battlefields.<ref name=":3" />
Later in World War II, chemists developed even more harmful chemical bombs, which were packaged in barrels and directly deposited in the oceans.<ref name=":0" /> The disposal of the chemicals in ocean runs the risk of metal-based containers corroding and leaching the chemical contents of the vessel into the ocean.<ref name=":0" /> Through the chemical disposal in the ocean, the contaminates may be spread throughout the various components of the ecosystems damaging marine and terrestrial ecosystems.<ref name=":3" />
Marine ecosystems during World War II were damaged not only from chemical contaminates, but also from wreckage from naval ships, which leaked oil into the water. Oil contamination in the Atlantic Ocean due to World War II shipwrecks is estimated at over 15 million tonnes.<ref name=":0" /> Oil spills are difficult to clean up and take many years to clean. To this day, traces of oil can still be found in the Atlantic Ocean from the naval shipwrecks which happened during World War II.
The use of chemicals during war helped increase the scale of chemical industries and helped show the government the value of scientific research to the government. The development of chemical research during the war also lead to the postwar development of agricultural pesticides.<ref name=":3" /> The creation of pesticides was an upside for the years after the war.
The environmental impacts of World War II were very drastic, which allowed them to be seen in the Cold War and be seen today. The impacts of conflict, chemical contaminations, and aerial warfare all contribute to reduction in the population of global flora and fauna, as well as a reduction in species diversity.<ref name=":0" />
===Gulf War===
During the 1991 [[Gulf War]], the [[Kuwaiti oil fires]] were a result of the scorched earth policy of Iraqi military forces retreating from [[Kuwait]] in 1991 after conquering the country but being driven out by [[Coalition of Gulf War|Coalition]] military forces. The [[Gulf War oil spill]], regarded as the worst oil spill in history, was caused when Iraqi forces opened valves at the Sea Island oil terminal and dumped oil from several tankers into the [[Persian Gulf]].
Some American military personnel complained of [[Gulf War syndrome]], typified by symptoms including immune system disorders and birth defects in their children. Whether it is due to time spent in active service during the war or for other reasons remains controversial.
{{Further|Environmental impact of Gulf wars}}
== Environmental hazards ==
{{see also|Environmental issue}}
[[Resources]] are a key source of [[Conflict (process)|conflict]] between [[nation]]s: "after the end of the [[Cold War]] in particular, many have suggested that [[environmental degradation]] will exacerbate scarcities and become an additional source of armed conflict."<ref name=gled>{{cite book|last=Gledistch|first=Nils|title=Conflict and the Environment|year=1997|publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers}}</ref> A nation’s survival depends on resources from the environment.<ref name=gled /> Resources that are a source of armed conflict include territory, strategic raw materials, sources of energy, water, and food.<ref name=gled /> In order to maintain resource stability, chemical and nuclear warfare have been used by nations in order to protect or extract resources, and during conflict.<ref name=gled /><ref name=rob /> These agents of war have been used frequently: “about 125,000 tons of [[chemical agent]] were employed during World War I, and about 96,000 tons during the Viet-Nam conflict.”<ref name=rob /> [[Nerve gas]], also known as organophosphorous anticholinesterases, was used at lethal levels against human beings and destroyed a high number of nonhuman [[vertebrate]] and [[invertebrate]] populations.<ref name=rob>{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=J.P|title=The Effects of Weapons on Ecosystems|year=1979|publisher=Pergamon Press}}</ref> However, contaminated vegetation would mostly be spared, and would only pose a threat to herbivores.<ref name=rob /> The result of innovations in chemical warfare led to a broad range of different chemicals for war and domestic use, but also resulted in unforeseen environmental damage.
The progression of warfare and its effects on the environment continued with the invention of [[weapons of mass destruction]]. While today, [[weapons of mass destruction]] act as deterrents and the use of weapons of mass destruction during [[World War II]] created significant environmental destruction. On top of the great loss in human life, “natural resources are usually the first to suffer: forests and wild life animals are wiped out.”<ref name=gled /> [[Nuclear warfare]] imposes both direct and indirect effects on the environment. The physical destruction due to the blast or by the biospheric damage due to [[ionizing]] [[radiation]] or [[radiotoxicity]] directly effect [[ecosystems]] within the blast radius.<ref name=rob /> Also, the atmospheric or geospheric disturbances caused by the weapons can lead to weather and climate changes.<ref name=rob />
===Unexploded ordnance===
{{Main|Unexploded ordnance}}
Military campaigns require large quantities of [[explosive weapon]]s, a fraction of which will not [[detonate]] properly and leave unexploded weapons. This creates a serious physical and chemical hazard for the civilian populations living in areas which were once war zones, due to the possibility of detonation after the conflict, as well as the leaching of chemicals into the soil and groundwater.
===Agent Orange===
{{Main|Agent Orange}}
[[File:Before and after spraying agent orange.jpg|thumb|Mangrove forests, like the top one east of Saigon, were often destroyed by herbicides.]]
[[Agent Orange]] was one of the [[herbicide]]s and [[defoliant]]s used by the [[British military]] during the [[Malayan Emergency]] and the [[United States armed forces|U.S. military]] in its [[herbicidal warfare]] program, [[Operation Ranch Hand]], during the [[Vietnam War]]. An estimated 21,136,000 gal. (80 000 m³) of Agent Orange were sprayed across South Vietnam,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.va.gov/Agentorange/ |title=Agent Orange |publisher= United States Department of Veterans |date=January 9, 2008 |accessdate=2008-08-18}}</ref> exposing 4.8 million Vietnamese people to Agent Orange, and resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects.<ref>The Globe and Mail, June 12, 2008. [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080711.worange1107/BNStory/Front/home/?pageRequested=all 'Last Ghost of the Vietnam War']</ref> Many Commonwealth personnel who handled and/or used Agent Orange during and decades after the 1948-1960 Malayan conflict suffered from serious exposure of dioxin. Agent Orange also caused major [[soil erosion]] to areas in Malaya. An estimated 10,000 civilians and possibly insurgents in Malaya also suffered heavily from defoliant effects, though many historians likely agreed it was more than 10,000 given that Agent Orange was used on a large scale in the Malayan conflict and unlike the U.S., the British government manipulated the numbers and kept its secret very tight in fear of negative world public opinion.<ref>{{cite book |title=Pesticide Dilemma in the Third World: A Case Study of Malaysia |pages=23 |publisher=Phoenix Press |year=1984}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Dioxins and Health |pages=145–160 |author=Arnold Schecter, Thomas A. Gasiewicz |date=July 4, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Chemical and Biological Warfare: A Reference Handbook |pages=178–180 |author=Albert J. Mauroni |year=July 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Global Politics of Pesticides: Forging Consensus from Conflicting Interests |page=61 |author=Bruce Cumings |year=1998 |publisher=[[Earthscan]]}}</ref>
===Testing of nuclear armaments===
{{main|Nuclear weapons testing}}
Testing of [[nuclear armament]]s has been carried out at various places including [[Bikini Atoll]], the [[Marshall Islands]] [[Pacific Proving Grounds]], [[New Mexico]] in the US, [[Mururoa Atoll]], [[Maralinga, South Australia|Maralinga]] in Australia, and [[Novaya Zemlya]] in the former Soviet Union, among others.
[[Downwinders]] are individuals and communities who are exposed to [[radioactive contamination]] and/or [[nuclear fallout]] from atmospheric and/or underground [[nuclear weapons testing]], and [[nuclear accidents]].
===Strontium 90===
The United States government studied the post-war effects of a radioactive isotope found in nuclear fallout called [[Strontium 90]]. The Atomic Energy Commission discovered that “Sr-90, which is chemically similar to calcium, can accumulate in bones and possibly lead to cancer”.<ref name=Lutts>{{cite journal|last=Lutts|first=Ralph|title=Chemical Fallout: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Radioactive Fallout, and the Environmental Movement|journal=Environmental Review|year=1985|volume=9|issue=3|series=3|pages=210–225|doi=10.2307/3984231|jstor=3984231}}</ref> Sr-90 found its way into humans through the ecological food chain as fallout in the soil, was picked up by plants, further concentrated in herbivorous animals, and eventually consumed by humans.<ref name=Kulp>{{cite journal|last=Kulp|first=J. Laurence|title=Strontium-90 in Man|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|year=1957|series=AEC Fifth Semiannual Report: Part II|page=219}}</ref>
===Depleted uranium munitions===
{{main|Depleted uranium}}
The use of depleted uranium in [[munitions]] is controversial because of numerous questions about potential long-term health effects.<ref name=MillerMcClain /> Normal functioning of the [[kidney]], [[brain]], [[liver]], [[heart]], and numerous other systems can be affected by uranium exposure, because in addition to being weakly radioactive, uranium is a [[toxic metal]].<ref name=Craft04>{{cite journal |last1=Craft |first1=Elena |last2=Abu-Qare |first2=Aquel |last3=Flaherty |first3=Meghan |last4=Garofolo |first4=Melissa |last5=Rincavage |first5=Heather |last6=Abou-Donia |first6=Mohamed |title=Depleted and natural uranium: chemistry and toxicological effects |journal=Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=297–317 |year=2004 |pmid=15205046 |doi=10.1080/10937400490452714|citeseerx=10.1.1.535.5247 }}</ref> It remains weakly radioactive because of its long [[half-life]]. The aerosol produced during impact and combustion of depleted uranium munitions can potentially contaminate wide areas around the impact sites or can be inhaled by civilians and military personnel.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mitsakou |first1=C. |last2=Eleftheriadis |first2=K. |last3=Housiadas |first3=C. |last4=Lazaridis |first4=M. |title=Modeling of the dispersion of depleted uranium aerosol |journal=Health Physics |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=538–44 |year=2003 |pmid=12705453 |doi=10.1097/00004032-200304000-00014}}</ref> In a three-week period of conflict in Iraq during 2003, it was estimated over 1000 tons of depleted uranium munitions were used mostly in cities.<ref name="gaurdian2003">Paul Brown, [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/apr/25/internationaleducationnews.armstrade Gulf troops face tests for cancer] ''guardian.co.uk'' 25 April 2003, Retrieved February 3, 2009</ref> The [[U.S. Department of Defense]] claims that no human [[cancer]] of any type has been seen as a result of exposure to either natural or depleted uranium.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://fhp.osd.mil/du/healthEffects.jsp
|title = Toxicological profile for uranium
|author = U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense
|deadurl = yes
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20071123082540/http://fhp.osd.mil/du/healthEffects.jsp
|archivedate = 2007-11-23
|df =
}}</ref>
Yet, U.S. DoD studies using cultured cells and laboratory rodents continue to suggest the possibility of [[leukemia|leukemogenic]], [[gene]]tic, [[reproduction|reproductive]], and [[neurological]] effects from chronic exposure.<ref name=MillerMcClain>{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=AC |last2=McClain |first2=D |title=A review of depleted uranium biological effects: in vitro and in vivo studies. |journal=Reviews on Environmental Health |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=75–89 |year=2007 |pmid=17508699 |doi=10.1515/REVEH.2007.22.1.75}}</ref>
In addition, the UK Pensions Appeal Tribunal Service in early 2004 attributed [[birth defect]] claims from a February 1991 [[Gulf War]] combat veteran to depleted uranium [[poison]]ing.<ref>Williams, M. (February 9, 2004) [http://vitw.org/archives/405 "First Award for Depleted Uranium Poisoning Claim,"] ''The Herald Online,'' (Edinburgh: Herald Newspapers, Ltd.)</ref> Campaign Against Depleted Uranium (Spring, 2004)<ref>[http://www.cadu.org.uk/news/17.htm#icbuw "MoD Forced to Pay Pension for DU Contamination,"] ''CADU News 17''</ref> Also, a 2005 [[epidemiology]] review concluded: "In aggregate the human epidemiological evidence is consistent with increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU."<ref name="Hindin">{{cite journal |last1=Hindin |first1=Rita |last2=Brugge |first2=Doug |last3=Panikkar |first3=Bindu|title=Teratogenicity of depleted uranium aerosols: A review from an epidemiological perspective |journal=Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source |volume=4 |pages=17 |year=2005 |doi=10.1186/1476-069X-4-17 |pmid=16124873 |pmc=1242351}}</ref>
===Fossil fuel use===
With the high degree of mechanization of the military large amounts of [[fossil fuel]]s are used. Fossil fuels are a major contributor to [[global warming]] and [[climate change]], issues of increasing concern. Access to oil resources is also a factor for instigating a war.
The [[United States Department of Defense]] (DoD) is a government body with the highest use of fossil fuel in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.energybulletin.net/node/13199|title=The US military oil consumption|last=Karbuz|first=Sohbet |date=2006-02-25|publisher=Energy Bulletin|accessdate=2009-09-12}}</ref> According to the 2005 ''CIA World Factbook'', when compared with the consumption per country the DoD would rank 34th in the world in average daily oil use, coming in just behind Iraq and just ahead of Sweden.<ref>Colonel Gregory J. Lengyel, USAF, The Brookings Institution, Department of Defense Energy Strategy, August 2007, {{cite web|url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2007/08defense_lengyel/lengyel20070815.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-09-12 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726045834/http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2007/08defense_lengyel/lengyel20070815.pdf |archivedate=2010-07-26 |df= }}</ref>
===Intentional flooding===
Flooding can be used as [[scorched earth]] policy through using water to render land unusable. It can also be used to prevent the movement of enemy combatants. During the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], dykes on the Yellow and the Yangtze Rivers [[1938 Yellow River flood|were breached to halt the advance of Japanese forces]]. Also during the [[Siege of Leiden]] in 1573 the dykes were breached to halt the advance of Spanish forces. During Operation Chastise in Germany during WW2 the Eder and Sorpe river dams were bombed flooding a large area and halting industrial manufacture used by the Germans in the war effort.
==Specific cases==
*[[1938 Yellow River flood]], created by the Nationalist Government in central China during the early stage of the Second Sino-Japanese War in an attempt to halt the rapid advance of the Japanese forces. It has been called the "largest act of environmental warfare in history".
*[[Beaufort's Dyke]], used as a dumping ground for bombs
*[[Jiyeh Power Station oil spill]], bombed by the Israeli Air force during the [[2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict]].
*[[Formerly Used Defense Sites]], a U.S. military program which is responsible for environmental restoration
*[[K5 Plan]], an attempt between 1985 and 1989 by the government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea to seal Khmer Rouge guerrilla infiltration routes into Cambodia, resulted in environmental degradation.
== Militarism and the environment ==
Human security has traditionally been solely linked to military activities and defense.<ref name=":4">International Peace Bureau. (2002). The Military’s Impact on The Environment: A Neglected Aspect Of The Sustainable Development Debate A Briefing Paper For States And Non-Governmental Organisations, Retrieved from: <nowiki>http://www.ipb.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/briefing-paper.pdf</nowiki> </ref> Scholars and institutions like the International Peace Bureau are now increasingly calling for a more holistic approach to security, particularly including an emphasis on the interconnections and interdependencies that exist between humans and the environment.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Jorgenson|first=Andrew K.|last2=Clark|first2=Brett|date=2016-05-01|title=The temporal stability and developmental differences in the environmental impacts of militarism: the treadmill of destruction and consumption-based carbon emissions|journal=Sustainability Science|language=en|volume=11|issue=3|pages=505–514|doi=10.1007/s11625-015-0309-5|issn=1862-4065}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> Military activity has significant impacts on the environment.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2014/07/25/us-department-defence-one-worlds-biggest-polluters-259456.html|title=The US Department of Defense Is One of the World's Biggest Polluters|date=2014-07-17|work=Newsweek|access-date=2018-05-26|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Bradford|first=John Hamilton|last2=Stoner|first2=Alexander M.|date=2017-08-11|title=The Treadmill of Destruction in Comparative Perspective: A Panel Study of Military Spending and Carbon Emissions, 1960-2014|url=http://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/jwsr/article/view/688|journal=Journal of World-Systems Research|language=en|volume=23|issue=2|pages=298–325|doi=10.5195/jwsr.2017.688|issn=1076-156X}}</ref> Not only can war be destructive to the socioenvironment, but military activities produce extensive amounts of [[greenhouse gas]]es (that contribute to [[anthropogenic climate change]]), [[pollution]], and cause resource depletion, among other environmental impacts.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6" />
=== Greenhouse gas emissions and pollution ===
Several studies have found a strong positive correlation between military spending and increased greenhouse gas emissions, with the impact of military spending on carbon emissions being more pronounced for countries of the Global North (ie: OECD developed countries).<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":5" /> Accordingly, the US military is estimated to be the number one fossil fuel consumer in the world.<ref name=":7">Schwartz, M. et al. (2012) Department of Defense Energy Initiatives: Background and Issues for Congress. Congressional Research Service, [Online] Available at: <nowiki>http://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42558.pdf</nowiki></ref>
Additionally, military activities involve high emissions of pollution<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2014/07/25/us-department-defence-one-worlds-biggest-polluters-259456.html|title=The US Department of Defense Is One of the World's Biggest Polluters|last=Nazaryan|first=|date=2014-07-17|work=Newsweek|access-date=2018-05-26|language=en}}</ref>. The Pentagon’s director of environment, safety and occupational health, Maureen Sullivan, has stated that they work with approximately 39 000 contaminated sites<ref name=":8" />. Indeed, the US military is also considered one of the largest generators of pollution in the world<ref name=":8" />. Combined, the top five US chemical companies only produce one fifth of the toxins produced by the Pentagon<ref name=":4" />. In Canada, the Department of National Defence readily admits it is the largest energy consumer of the Government of Canada, and a consumer of “high volumes of hazardous materials”<ref>Department of National Defence Canada (2017). Defence Energy and Environment Strategy. Retrieved from the Government of Canada Website: <nowiki>https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/dnd-mdn/documents/reports/2017/20171004-dees-en.pdf</nowiki> </ref>.
Military pollution is a worldwide occurrence.<ref name=":4" /> Armed forces from around the world were responsible for the emission of two thirds of [[Chlorofluorocarbon|chlorofluorocarbons]] (CFCs) that were banned in the 1987 [[Montreal Protocol]] for causing damage to the [[Ozone depletion|ozone layer]]<ref name=":4" />. In addition, naval accidents during the Cold War have dropped at minimum 50 nuclear warheads and 11 nuclear reactors into the ocean, they remain on the ocean floor<ref name=":4" />.
=== Land and resource use ===
Military land use needs (such as for bases, training, storage etc) often displace people from their lands and homes<ref name=":4" />. Military activity uses solvents, fuels and other toxic chemicals which can leach toxins into the environment that remain there for decades and even centuries.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":4" /> Furthermore, heavy military vehicles can cause damage to soil and infrastructure.<ref name=":4" /> Military-caused noise pollution can also diminish the quality of life for nearby communities as well as their ability to rear or hunt animals to support themselves.<ref name=":4" /> Advocates raise concerns of environmental racism and/or environmental injustice as it is largely marginalized communities that are displaced and/or affected.<ref name=":9">Lorincz, T. (2014). Demilitarization for Deep Decarbonization: Reducing Militarism and Military Expenditures to Invest in the UN Green Climate Fund and to Create Low-Carbon Economies and Resilient Communities. Retrieved from The International Peace Bureau Website: <nowiki>http://www.ipb.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Green_Booklet_working_paper_17.09.2014.pdf</nowiki></ref><ref name=":4" />
Militaries are also highly resource intensive.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":9" /> Weapons and military equipment make up the second largest international trade sector.<ref name=":4" /> The International Peace Bureau says that more than fifty percent of the helicopters in the world are for military use, and approximately twenty-five percent of jet fuel consumption is by military vehicles.<ref name=":4" /> These vehicles are also extremely inefficient, carbon intensive, and discharge emissions that are more toxic than those of other vehicles.<ref name=":9" />
=== Activist responses ===
Military funding is, at present, higher than ever before, and activists are concerned about the implication for greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.<ref name=":9" /> They advocate for demilitarization, citing the high greenhouse gas emissions and support the redirection of those funds to climate action.<ref name=":9" /> Currently the world spends about 2.2% of global GDP on military funding according to the World Bank<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS|title=Military expenditure (% of GDP) {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|language=en-us|access-date=2018-05-26}}</ref>. It is estimated that it would cost approximately one percent of global GDP yearly until 2030 to reverse the climate crisis<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ourworldindata.org/how-much-will-it-cost-to-mitigate-climate-change|title=How much will it cost to mitigate climate change?|website=Our World in Data|access-date=2018-05-26}}</ref>. Moreover, activists emphasize the need for prevention and the avoidance of costly clean up<ref name=":9" />. Currently, the expense for cleaning up military contaminated site is at least $500 billion<ref name=":4" />. Finally, activists point to social issues such as extreme poverty and advocate for more funding to be redirected from military expenses to these causes<ref name=":9" />.
Groups working for demilitarization and peace include the [[International Peace Bureau]], [[Canadian Voice of Women for Peace]], The Rideau Institute, Ceasefire.ca, [[Project Ploughshares]], and [[Code Pink|Codepink]]. See [[List of anti-war organizations]] for more groups.
=== The military's positive effects on the environment ===
There are examples from around the world of nations’ armed forces aiding in land management and conservation<ref name=":10">D’Souza, E. (1994). The potential of the military in environmental protection: India. Unasylva – FAO. 46. Available at: <nowiki>http://www.fao.org/docrep/v7850e/V7850e12.htm#The%20potential%20of%20the%20military%20in%20environmental%20protection:%20India</nowiki> </ref>. For example, in Bhuj, India, military forces stationed there helped to reforest the area; in Venezuela, it is part of the [[Venezuelan National Guard|National Guard]]’s responsibilities to protect natural resources.<ref name=":10" /> Additionally, military endorsement of environmentally friendly technology such as renewable energy may have the potential to generate public support for these technologies<ref>Light. S. (2014)b Interview by Knowledge@Wharton The Surprising Role the Military Plays in Environmental Protection [Print Interview]. Retrieved from: <nowiki>http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/military-environmental-protection/</nowiki> </ref>. Finally, certain military technologies like GPS and drones are helping environmental scientists, conservationists, ecologists and restoration ecologists conduct better research, monitoring, and remediation<ref>Lawrence, M. et al. 2015. The effects of modern war and military activities on biodiversity and the environment. ''Environ. Rev. 23: 443–460'' dx.doi.org/10.1139/er-2015-0039</ref>.
==War and environmental law==
{{main|War and environmental law}}
From a legal standpoint, environmental protection during times of war and military activities is addressed partially by international environmental law. Further sources are also found in areas of law such as general international law, the [[laws of war]], [[human rights law]] and local laws of each affected country.
==See also==
*[[Biological warfare]]
*[[Environmental effects of the Syrian Civil War]]
*[[List of environmental issues]]
*[[War crimes]]
*[[Scorched earth]]
*[[Nuclear winter]]
==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=35em}}
==Further reading==
<!-- * {{cite book|author=|title=|publisher=|year=|isbn=|url=}} -->
*{{cite book|editors=Austin, J.E. & Bruch, Carl E.|title=The Environmental Consequences of War: Legal, Economic, and Scientific Perspectives|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2000|isbn=9780521780209|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OJKFkSkgTyIC&printsec=frontcover}}
* {{cite book|author=Brauer, Jurgen|title=War and Nature: The Environmental Consequences of War in a Globalized World|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2009|isbn=9780759112063|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=du7s13DfKC8C&printsec=frontcover}}
* {{cite book|authors=El- Baz, Farouk & Makharita, Ragaa Mohamed|title=The Gulf War and the Environment|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1994|isbn=9782881246494|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2cmmgwUJH98C&printsec=frontcover}}
*{{cite book|authors=McNeill, J.R. & Painter, David S.|chapter=The Global Environmental Footprint of the U.S. Military: 1789-2003|editor=Closman, Charles E.|title=War and the Environment: Military Destruction in the Modern Age|publisher=Texas A&M Press|year=2009|isbn=9781603441698|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zjs0teljUjQC&pg=PA10}}
* {{cite book|editors=McNeill, J.R. & Unger, Corina|title=Environmental Histories of the Cold War|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780521762441|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hs-SHscWdYgC&printsec=frontcover}}
* {{cite book|editor=Price, Andrew R.G.|title=The 1991 Gulf War: Environmental Assessments of IUCN and Collaborators|publisher=IUCN|year=1994|isbn=9782831702056|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_okDDKq5NCwC&printsec=frontcover}}
* {{cite book|editors=Ṣādiq, Muḥammad & McCain, John Charles|title=The Gulf War Aftermath: An Environmental Tragedy|publisher=Springer|year=1993|isbn=9780792322788|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y-dp1DKdkUMC&printsec=frontcover}}
* {{cite book|author=Westing, Arthur H. (ed)|chapter=Constraints on military disruption of the biosphere: an overview|title=Cultural Norms, War and the Environment|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1988|isbn=9780198291251|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Js-oxRiRoQkC&pg=PA1}}
* {{cite book|editor=William Burr|title="Clean" Nukes and the Ecology of Nuclear War|publisher=The National Security Archive|year=2017|url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/nuclear-vault/2017-08-30/clean-nukes-ecology-nuclear-war}}
==External links==
*[http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList277/8DA60E8AB11FACE0C1256C22003B8520 Protection of the Environment During Armed Conflict]
*[http://www.eisil.org/index.php?sid=248403119&cat=429&t=sub_pages Armed Conflict and Protection of the Environment]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080219014107/http://www2.eli.org/research/war.htm Addressing Environmental Consequences of War] A program of the [[Environmental Law Institute]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090204123107/http://www.iucn.org/en/news/archive/2001_2005/press/iraqstatement210303.pdf Armed Conflict and the Environment: IUCN Statement]
{{Human impact on the environment}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Environmental Issues With War}}
[[Category:Aftermath of war]]
[[Category:Environmental impact of war| ]]' |