The smoke of war is no longer limited to gunpowder, battlefields and ruined buildings. It is also choking the environment. Whether it is the Iran-Israel war or the long-running conflict like Russia-Ukraine, these global conflicts have not only taken thousands of lives but have also inflicted deep wounds on our environment. Amidst the echo of missile explosions and the roar of tanks, the emission of greenhouse gases is increasing rapidly. Experts are warning that this environmental damage caused by war can disturb the balance of the earth for years. In such a situation, in the coming days we may have to face more heatwave days, natural disasters like floods, droughts.
The missiles and bombs being fired in war are leading to a large-scale increase in the emission of carbon and other dangerous greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In the time to come, these emissions, along with heating the earth, could emerge as a major crisis of air pollution worldwide. According to a report by the Conflict and Environment Observatory, militaries around the world are responsible for 5.5 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. The report states that in the first three years of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 230 metric tons of CO2 were generated. This is equivalent to the combined annual emissions of Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Meanwhile, due to the weapons used in the war, the levels of sulfur dioxide and other hazardous gases in the air are also increasing rapidly. According to another report, the Iran-Israel conflict resulted in the emission of approximately 35,000 tons of carbon. This is equivalent to the annual emissions of about 8,300 cars. In such a situation, the large-scale emission of greenhouse gases during war can disturb the balance of the environment.
Whether it's the Iran-Israel war or the Russia-Ukraine war, the weapons used in them have extensively involved heavy metals, various chemicals and gunpowder. Due to heavy shelling and the use of missiles, these hazardous elements spread widely in the area, becoming a major cause of local pollution.
Vivek Chattopadhyay, who has long been working on air pollution at the Centre for Science and Environment, says that destructive weapons are being used in war. The smoke and pollutants from these weapons affect the surrounding air and water and the particulate matter released from the buildings demolished in attacks remains in the air for a long time. Those who breathe this air can face various health problems.
We have seen in both wars that to weaken each other, both sides attacked the other country's oil reserves or oil fields. The fires in these oil reserves burned away oil in just a few hours that could have been used for a whole year. The resulting smoke released many metric tons of carbon dioxide and other hazardous gases into the air, which will increase the greenhouse effect.
On one hand, the whole world is making continuous efforts to reduce gas emissions in view of the threat of global warming, while on the other hand, the world is now engaged in an arms race. Recently, NATO has spoken of increasing its budget. In such a scenario, the arms industry will grow more rapidly worldwide in the coming times. The growth of this industry will lead to gas emissions during arms production, and when these weapons are used, there will be separate emissions.
A few years ago, the United Nations had formulated some policies to assess the environmental damage caused by war. But to date, no such report has been presented that has become a center of discussion. If observed closely, the United Nations also appears to be weakening today on the front of global warming and environmental protection issues.
In his research paper, Benjamin Neimark, a senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, says that we have seen very clearly the extent to which armies and war materials can harm the environment. Military forces worldwide are among the largest consumers of hydrocarbons. The greenhouse gas emission capacity of many armies is equivalent to that of some small countries. But there is very little information about their overall contribution to climate change. It is not even discussed.
Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the reporting responsibilities of all countries are different. Since the Paris Agreement on climate change, the need to report military emissions is now becoming essential. At the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in 2021, a network was developed for tracking military emissions or for reporting individual government's military emissions to the UNFCCC. Unfortunately, very few countries report their military emissions in any transparent or systematic way, making the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions very inconsistent.
He said that in our recent study of the war in Gaza, we made some rough estimates which suggest that in the first five days of the Iran-Israel war, jet fuel, rocket fire, and ballistic missiles released more than 35,000 tons of CO2. This is equivalent to 8,300 cars driven for a year or the burning of 20,000 tons of coal.
Whether a war is small or large, it brings destruction. Former Lieutenant General of the Indian Army, Mohan Bhandari, says that war is always destructive. Whether it is the Russia-Ukraine war or the Iran-Israel war, destructive weapons have been used on a large scale. Elements like lead and sulfur are used extensively in these weapons. These are fatal for humans and are also fatal for nature. On the other hand, thousands of people have been killed by bombs and missiles. The bodies of these people also cause local pollution, leading to the spread of diseases on a large scale. The entire atmosphere becomes toxic.
Responsible countries around the world, including America, must understand that the wars they encourage for their power and some economic benefits will lead to pollution, and in the future, their own children will have to face difficulties like floods, droughts and dangerous diseases. Wars play a significant role in global warming. Today in India, rapidly melting glaciers have become a major cause for concern.
Environmentalist Anil Joshi says that a large amount of energy is released in every war. This energy plays a significant role in increasing global warming. The Earth's rising temperature affects the whole world. Due to the global warming caused by the increasing greenhouse gas emissions from war, the difficulties that were expected in the next decade could be seen in the next few years. In the coming years, the number of heatwave days may increase. At the same time, incidents of unusual weather will also rise.
Wherever a bomb falls, it destroys the air, water and land in the surrounding area. And the pollution released from it increases the pollution of the entire world, which we know as global warming. In view of these problems, we will have to take several local measures so that some relief can be found in the coming times. We have conducted some such successful experiments in Uttarakhand. We experimented by digging about 300 small pits in one hectare of a forest near a village. Over time, these pits filled with water. Today, because of these pits, the entire forest remains moist. On one hand, this prevents forest fires, and on the other, new plants grow on their own in the forest.
(This article was translated for The Daily Jagran by Akansha Pandey.)