Environment Pollution Caused by War

Now that I have your attention, let me start off with a quick question. Would you rather live in a world ravaged by war and pollution, where the air is toxic, the water is contaminated and food is scarce, or an idealistic world have access to clean water, green grass, and healthy soil for growing food? I would be certain that you picked the second option and luckily, we HAVE that option. Unfortunately, according to the United Nations approximately 2 billion people, or a quarter of the world's population, now live in conflict-affected areas. A common attribute people tend to forget is how our environment is demolished just as much. One of the most prominent disputes that have caused tremendous environmental pollution is the World Wars. Yet, World War I has ended more than 100 years ago; Its environmental consequences can still be seen today. In countries like France, the war lands that have been fought on are still in deep damage, and even after serval decades there is habitat destruction, and species loss and the environment never heals. The soil there is entirely polluted and the water is full of chemicals making it utterly undrinkable. These red zones are declared impossible to clean making the citizens silent witnesses to the long-lasting environmental impact of modern warfare.

Another recent warfare that took place recently, that most of us are familiar with, is the Ukraine-Russia conflict that is currently ranging as we speak. In the western area of Zhytomyr–the wooded North part of Ukraine, a Ukraine fighter jet crashed causing a massive wildfire due to the dumped aircraft fuel all around the forest ground. This is just one of the many examples of environmental damage that has happened due to unnecessary war conflict. A Ukraine Environmental Group states that they have documented more than 250 instances of environmental pollution just like this one and people are estimating that this damage will last much longer than the war itself. With all these incidents occurring right before our eyes, why has environmental pollution not attained the awareness it should be getting? This directly refers to the other fact that environmental damage has implications for humans as well as the ecosystem which means that protecting civilians requires that we must protect the environment that they depend upon.

Another unforeseeable circumstance that occurs due to war is environmental deterioration before conflicts even commence. Manufacturing and upholding military forces consume extensive quantities of resources which in hand creates emissions, disruption to landscapes/terrestrial/marine habitats, and chemical/noise pollution from the use of weapons, aircraft, and vehicles. Military training also requires vast use of land and sea whether for bases/facilities for testing and training for military personnel. Military lands are believed to cover between 1-6% of the global land surface in which many of these cases are ecologically important. While public development could benefit biodiversity, the question of whether they could be better managed as civil protected areas is rarely discussed. In conclusion, environmental pollution caused by war is a prominent issue that is often overlooked in our generation and it’s up to us to reverse or atleast make this planet a little greener.

Written by: Dharshini Baskaran