The study of the environmental impact of war focuses on the modernization of warfare and its increasing effects on the environment. Tactics such as scorched earth methods have been used for much of recorded history; however, the methods of modern warfare cause far greater devastation on the biophysical environment. The progression of warfare from chemical weapons to nuclear weapons has increasingly created stress on ecosystems and the environment. Drone usage, which is advancing, emits nitrous oxides and other gases that can cause acid rain. Environmental toxins like these gases and heavy metals linger for decades in the environment, and in dry areas they can be transported across large distance. Genotoxic effects as in the case of Agent Orange can affect multiple generationsSycheva, Lyudmila P.; Nataliya V. Umnova; Maria A. Kovalenko; Vjacheslav S. Zhurkov; Andrey A. Shelepchikov; and Vladimir S. Roumak. “Dioxins and Cytogenetic Status of Villagers after 40 Years of Agent Orange Application in Vietnam.” Chemosphere 144 (2016): 1415–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.10.009.. Even after war ends, contaminated land and water can keep harming the environment and nearby communities.
Wars also have a detrimental effects on environmental policy which can last for 20-30 years after the conflict. When wars create energy shortage and rise of fossil fuel prices, it disrupts global climate action. The military sector is responsible for around 5.5% of global GHG emissions (not counting emissions from the conflicts themself), which are not included in GHG assessments on global and country level.
Historical events American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) The American Revolution inflicted major impacts on the 18th-century natural world. At Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, for instance, during the winter of 1777-1778, George Washington's Continental Army soldiers cut down more than 127,000 trees in building their crude log huts, causing both short-term and long-term deforestation. In September 1778, British forces raided Martha's Vineyard Island off the Massachusetts coast, killing more than 10,000 sheep, though the raid also produced some "positive" environmental effects. At the Battles of Saratoga in upstate New York on 19 September and 7 October 1777, soldiers fired more than 660,000 lead musket balls, causing some negative environmental effects that persist into the 21st century. American Civil War (1861-1865) The American Civil War was largely fought in hot, wet regions where pandemic diseases such as malaria were prevalent. As a result, sickness rates were high on both sides. More powerful long range rifles and artillery caused high casualty rates of wounding and death. The Union forces had much better medical and hospital facilities, while the supply system failed so often in the Confederacy that for months at a time soldiers marched and fought barefoot, with little medicine available to their overworked doctors. The Union systematically devastated the railway system in the South, and ruined many cotton plantations. Combat operations killed thousands of horses and mules used to pull supplies, artillery and munitions.
World War I (1914-1918)
The first World War (WW I) saw chemicals especially chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas used heavily. These were first developed by German chemists. Over 100,000 tons of toxic gas was produced by the end of the war in 1918. For the most part gas masks neutralized advantages. Gas injured many soldiers but it did not have a majore change in the course of the war and here were no permanent environmental effects from it.L.F. Haber, The Poisonous Cloud: Chemical Warfare in the First World War (Oxford University Press, 1986). Thomas I. Faith, Gas Warfare, in: 1914–1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War.
There were long term ecological impacts with ecosystem biodiversity loss. The war transformed the global logging industry as it demanded large quantities of lumber for ship construction. Excessive logging became selective among tree species for certain military demands. As a result, ecosystem biodiversity was reduced and further exacerbated by reforestation programs. Biodiversity is essential to ecosystem resilience and natural ecological processes. When reduced, this poses a threat for the increase of invasive species as they disrupt ecosystem carbon storage and climate regulation.
World War II (1939–1945) World War II (WW2) led to a vast increase in production and introduced many new environmental consequences. World War II was wide-ranging in its destruction of humans, animals, and materials. The postwar effects of World War II, both ecological and social, are still visible decades after the conflict ended. Similar to wildlife, ecosystems also suffer from noise pollution which is produced by military aircraft. During World War II, aircraft acted as a vector for the transportation of exotics whereby weeds and cultivated species were brought to oceanic island ecosystems by way of aircraft landing strips which were used as refueling and staging stations during operations in the Pacific theater. Before the war, the isolated islands around Europe were inhabited by a high number of endemic species. During World War II, aerial warfare had an enormous influence on fluctuating population dynamics. Two species of flightless birds, the Wake Island rail and the Laysan rail, became extinct when rats were introduced to the remote Pacific islands where they lived by naval vessels. The brown tree snake became established on Guam shortly after the war, presumably having stowed away on board military transport ships.
In August 1945, after fighting World War II for almost four years, the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima in Japan. About 70,000 people died in the first nine seconds after the bombing of Hiroshima, which was comparable to the death toll which resulted from the devastating Operation Meetinghouse air raid over Tokyo. Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on the industrial city of Nagasaki, instantly killing 35,000 people. The nuclear weapons released catastrophic levels of energy and radioactive particles. Once the bombs were detonated, the temperatures reached about 3980 °C / 7200 °F. With temperatures that high, all the flora and fauna were destroyed along with the infrastructure and human lives in the impact zones. The radioactive particles which were released resulted widespread land and water contamination. The initial blasts increased the surface temperature and created crushing winds destroying trees and buildings in their path.
European forests experienced traumatic impacts which resulted from fighting during the war. Behind the combat zones, timber from cut down trees was removed in order to clear up the paths for fighting. The shattered forests in the battle zones faced exploitation.
The use of hazardous chemicals was first initiated during the war. The long-term effects of chemicals result from both their potential persistence and the poor disposal program of nations with stockpiled weapons.
During World War II, the demand for production of aluminum skyrocketed. In turn, Britain turned to its territories of British Guiana and Canada. Aluminum production quadrupled in these two colonies. This resulted in environmental degradation on a global scale as demands rose for materials to be used in the war.
Later in World War II, chemists developed even more harmful chemical bombs, which were packaged in barrels and directly deposited in the oceans. 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. Through chemical disposal in the ocean, the contaminants may be spread throughout the various components of the ecosystems damaging marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
Marine ecosystems during were also damaged 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. 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.
Additionally, the Baltic Sea contains a large quantity of unexploded munitions, including land and naval mines from World War II. Not only do these unexploded munitions pose a threat to boating traffic, but also marine life. When these munitions are detonated below the ocean, whether unintentionally or intentionally in an effort to clear them, marine organisms several kilometers away can be injured. Organisms far away can still be harmed, such as damage to their hearing range which in some cases is irreversible. One hundred and sixty five thousand naval mines were placed in the Baltic and western sea during World War II, with an estimated 15-30% of these still remaining active.
The use of chemicals during war helped increase the scale of chemical industries and it also. The development of chemical research during the war also lead to the postwar development of agricultural pesticides.
Chemical contaminations, and aerial warfare all contributed to reduction in the population of global flora and fauna, as well as a reduction in species diversity.
In 1946, in the U.S. Zone of Germany, the United States military advised the government to prepare accommodations and employment for people who last their homes. The answer was a special garden program that would provide new land for people to live in. This included land to provide food needed for the people as well. Forests were then surveyed for good soil that was suitable for crop production. This meant that the forest would be cut down in order to make land for farms and housing. In this program about 23,500,000 fest meters of lumber were produced out of the forests.
Aluminum was one of the biggest resources affected by World War II, as it was vital for aircraft production. Bauxite, an aluminum ore, and the mineral cryolite were essential, as well as required massive amounts of electrical power to be mined. The landscapes of bauxite mines are left lacking topsoil, flora, or fauna.
Korean War (1950-1953) The Korean War also resulted in severe damage to the environment and ecosystem. During the war, widespread devastation resulted from direct combat, industrial chaos, and the considerable use of chemical agents, such as defoliants. In addition to conventional weapons, chemical agents were often used, killing much flora and fauna, contaminating soil, and destroying forests. Near the end of the war, the U.S Air force bombed five out of the 20 hydroelectric and irrigation dams in North Korea in Toksan, Chasan, Kuwonga, Kusong, and Toksang. These attacks harmed access to infrastructure and washed away important topsoil needed to grow crops like rice. The attacks occurred during the rice growing season, which lasts from May to August, making the effects of the attacks more severe for the local population.
Vietnam War (1959-1975)