ENVIRONMENTAL

CRISES DUE TO WAR

Mayur Saxena 101608088

Mehakdeep Singh 101608089

MEE-5
Naman Jain 101608092
Group: 1
Nandan Jindal 101608093

Nitin Garg 101608100

If we do not save the environment, then whatever we do in civil rights… will be of no

meaning, because then we will have the equality of extinction. ~ James Farmer, Jr.
 INDEX

1. Introduction (Nitin Garg)

2. As the name suggests 4.2. Newer Laws

(Nandan Jindal)

4.3. Better Resources

3. Impacts
(Mayur Saxena
and Mehakdeep 4.4. Proper Refuge
Singh)
3.1. Gulf war
4.5. Bounded Technological

3.2. Vietnam war Development

3.3. Libya war 4.6. Eradication of strategic

attacks on ecosystem
3.4. Afghanistan war

5. Conclusion
3.5. Congo war
(Mehakdeep Singh)

3.6. Little Boy & Fat Man

4. The Solutions (Naman Jain)

4.1. United Nations

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INTRODUCTION
as stopping such activity (such as birds
congregating on runways).

For centuries, war has evolved not only

human conflict but also natural destruction
in the forms of both 'collateral damage' and
deliberate harm to environment.
Environmental destruction has been used as
a war-winning technique and as a
punishment for defeated humans.

As war had become increasingly advanced

The construction of military bases tends to
so its impacts on the environment have
destroy these environments, especially in the
become harsher and long-lasting. In these
case of island bases. Large sectors of most
wars, the destruction of ecosystem with
countries are reserved for military,
broad-leaf herbicides has indirectly
especially tanks, tactical missile exercises,
impacted not only the environment in which
bombing exercises. In addition, some
they were used, but also has had long-term
countries reserve large areas for chemical
effects on human living conditions.
and biological warfare products. In those

The application of weapons, the destruction countries manufacturing weapons, areas

of oil fields, fires, military transport may also be used for testing missiles,

movements and chemical spraying are all chemical and biological warfare products,

examples of the destroying. Air, water and and nuclear weapons. Vast amounts of toxic

soil are polluted, man and animal are killed, pollution left from the production, storage,

and numerous health affects occur among and testing of chemical, biological, nuclear,

those still breathing. and conventional weapons contaminate

Military bases, require large areas of land--
much of it ecologically valuable and often
lead to the destruction of any flora perceived
millions of acres awaiting redevelopment.
Millions of tons of obsolete weapons and
ammunition await destruction. When a
heavy bomb goes off, it creates temperatures
of approximately 3,000 degrees Celsius; this

Page 3 of 25
not only annihilates all flora and fauna but
also destroys the lower layers of soil, which
can take anywhere from 1,500 to 7,400
years to regenerate. It is often said that
"from the ashes of destruction grow the
roses of success"; in modern war this is not
the case. The unparalleled destruction
Radioactivity, released into the environment
in many phases of production and testing
processes, poses a serious threat to the
health of biological species, including
humans. Assessment of this threat begins
with estimating the amount of radiation
released, itself a difficult task, and then
evaluating health risks on the basis of what
can be found in epidemiological studies of
exposed populations and ecosystems over
time. These studies are based on relatively
small samples and look at areas affected by
above-ground tests areas near nuclear
weapons production and storage facilities
and areas used for radioactivity tests. These
studies raise concern in terms of human

created in a short time span by toxic health effects, costs of environmental

munitions; unexploded weapons; the cleanup and continued environmental

physical and biological effects of damage to contamination.

soil and landscape; and the human suffering

resulting from the disruption of social
systems turn today's war zones into
ecological disaster areas. Fortunately, we
have yet to deal with the long-term effects of
large-scale nuclear, chemical, or biological
warfare. Despite the bleak outlook, there are
hopes that in the future the environmental
consequences of war will be taken into
account. Nuclear weapons technology
continues to dominate concerns regarding
potential hazards to the environment.

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AS THE NAME
SUGGESTS
War is "a state of armed conflict between
different countries or different groups
within a country."
The reason we chose this as our main topic
is to highlight various impacts of war
because in this date many countries are on
the urge of war within the country or with
other country.
Also the reason for choosing this catchy title
"war goes viral" is not just to seek attention
but this title suits the topic too. 'War' is the
word which is present in the dictionaries of
democratic leader’s common person see war
as a destruction.
The reasons for war being destructive are
given below:
1. War is immoral.
Murder is the one crime that we’re taught to
excuse if it’s done on a large enough scale.
Morality demands that we not so excuse it.
War is nothing other than murder on a large
scale.
Page 5 of 25
Death counts in wars have grown
dramatically over the centuries and decades
which have shifted heavily onto civilians
rather than combatants, and have been
overtaken by injury counts as even greater
number of people have been injured but
medicine has allowed them to survive.
2. War threatens our environment.
A major motivation behind some wars is the
desire to control resources that poison the
earth, especially oil and gas.
As in the Gulf War, oil can be leaked or
burned off but primarily it is put to use in all
kinds of machines which pollutes the earth’s
atmosphere, placing us all at a risk. Some
associate the consumption of oil with the
supposed glory and heroism of war and view
renewable energies, that do not risk global
catastrophe. As modernization of weapons is
taking place these weapons are becoming
even more dangerous for the environment.
Nuclear weapons are so much deadly for
atmosphere that their hazardous effects take War has a huge direct financial cost, the vast
decades to overcome. Even during majority of which is in funds spent on the
practicing and testing of weapons used in preparation for war — or what’s thought of
wars so much of pollution is created on as ordinary, non-war military spending. The
environment. world approximately spends $2 trillion
every year on militarism, out of which the
United States spends about half, or about $1
trillion.

This U.S. spending also accounts for

roughly half of the U.S. government’s
discretionary budget each year and is
distributed through several departments and
agencies.

Most of the rest of world spending is by

3. War erodes our liberties. members of NATO and other allies of the

We’re often told that wars are fought for United States, although China is ranked

“freedom.” But when a wealthy nation fights second in the world.

a war against a poor (if often resource-rich) Indirect Expenses:

nation halfway around the globe, the goal is
Wars can cost even an aggressor nation that
not actually to prevent that poor nation from
fights wars far from its shores twice as much
taking over the wealthy one, after which it
in indirect expenses as in direct
might restrict people’s rights and liberties.
expenditures.
The fears used to build support for the wars
don’t involve such an incredible scenario at The enormous costs to the aggressor can be
all; rather the threat is depicted as one to small in comparison to those of the nation
safety, not liberty. attacked.

4.War impoverishes us.

Direct Expenses:

Page 6 of 25
Only army and ground zero people knows
We think we should live peacefully and
how it looks like during a war.
should give our best to avoid creating the
No one sitting far can even think of the fear
The people who do not want war face that
and tension going on the site of war.
situation of war.
unwillingly but democratic leaders or rulers

who are the only root are just busy giving
compensations (some don't even give
compensations) to the victims and the army.
We need to save the environment in order to
safeguard ourselves, not others.
We think we should live peacefully and
should give our best to avoid creating the
The people who do not want war face that
situation of war.
IMPACTS OF WAR
In spite of the affect that technology has on
environment it continues to grow.
Technologies such as robotics, cognitive
science, nanotechnology, biotechnology and
artificial intelligence are emerging every
day. We talk about the glorious advantages
it can have on the human race and how big
of a leap it will be but often we forget that
every coin has two sides. If there are
positive there will be negatives. We come

Page 7 of 25
across the positive side when someone
suggests an idea and we realize its brilliance
but that is not the case with the negatives.
Only when a tragedy happens we realize
how destructive and deadly it can be but the
by time we do understand every aspect of it
the damage has be done.

War is a state of armed conflict between

societies. It is characterized by aggression,
mortality and destruction. War involves
using weapons and military technologies. Some examples of war all over the world are
Mostly one side has better technology than Congo war, World Trade Centre explosion
the other and that’s where we understand in America, World War I, World War II,
how technology can be used to cause great Afghanistan war, Hiroshima & Nagasaki
and irreparable damage to humans and to the nuclear explosions, Iraq & Kuwait, Vietnam
environment. As in most wars that happened War.
in the world, updated technologies have
Wars are not just limited to the battle area
been used to overcome the enemies, which
but are more widespread. War affects both
finally shows up as damages on the
natural and human environments. Effects on
economy, civilians, soldiers and as well as
soldiers, civilians and economy, and on the
the environment. Every war has a different
other hand impacts on natural environment
story to tell but here we are going to focus
are just starting points to look further into
only on those which left an everlasting and
consequences of war. War has detrimental
deadly impact on the environment. Uneven
effect on air, water, soil and wild life thus
and inappropriate distribution of energy
influencing the environment.
sources and accessibility to resources leads
humans to ignore any ethics in order to GULF WAR
obtain other properties by greed. War is not
The environmental effects of the Gulf War
limited to specific continent or country.
were felt immediately at the beginning of
the Iraqi invasion. The land was abused

Page 8 of 25
greatly from transportation of heavy artillery
and movement of troops across the desert.
The generation of solid wastes polluted the
ground and groundwater was contamination.
Outside of the desert soil, plants were also
destroyed in great numbers. Desert
vegetation was destroyed over the course the
war.
The atmosphere was damaged from the fire
and smoke produced from explosives, oil
fires, and from both known and unknown
chemicals. At the time when Iraqi troops
were preparing their force, Saddam was
threatening that if he had to be evicted from
Kuwait by force, then Kuwait would be
burned. As promised, upon evacuation, six-
hundred oil wells in Kuwait were set on fire
by the Iraqi troop. The effect that the oil
fires had on the Gulf environment were
Page 9 of 25
enormous. The smoke remained trapped in
the atmosphere and caused temperatures to
drop immensely on earth below. The smoke
caused acid rain forms from burning oil and
also people with respiratory problems or
other diseases were hugely impacted by
smoke- clogged air.
During the war, 11 million barrels of crude
oil was spilled into the Persian Gulf. This
was an apparent strategy against the US
marines as visibility and movement were
inhibited.
Marshlands and mud tidal flats continue to
contain large quantity of oil and full
recovery is likely to take some centuries.
The oil penetrated deep inside the surface
and affected the fauna. More than 800 miles
of Kuwait and Saudi Arabian beaches were
oiled and marine wildlife was devastated.
Birds were the most affected of any group of
organisms and thousands lost their lives.
Along with the migratory birds, marine
turtles were also in danger. Both the
hawksbill and green turtles utilize the
offshore islands of the Gulf as nesting sites.
After investigating the Gulf beaches, it was
determined that most turtles had died
Another investigation found that at least 80
ships were sunk during the Gulf War, many of land. This was also useful as an old
of which carried oil. strategy of destroying the enemy’s crops so
that they would accept defeat.
These ships submerged during the Iraq-Iran
War will always remain a chronic source of Two chemicals were widely used they were
contamination of the Arabian Gulf for many Agent Orange and Napalm. Agent Orange
years to come. was a deadly mixture of two herbicides
dispersed into the air. Between 1961 and
1967 the US Air Force sprayed about 20
Million Barrels of
million gallons of concentrated chemicals
Major Gulf Oil over 6 million acres of vegetation which is
Spilled about 13% of South Vietnam’s land. It killed
off the forests that provided the enemy with
Iran,1985
cover and their food crops. The chemical
Qatar,
Iran, 1978 was very dangerous for anyone who came in
1983
Kuwait, 1981
Iran, 1983 contact with it. It contained dioxins which
Iran, 1983
Kuwait,
are highly toxic and gave rise to
Qatar, 1983
1981 reproductive and developmental problems. It
Iran,1985
Iran, 1978 affected the immune system and also caused

0 2 cancer. Napalm was a sticky substance

which dispersed onto the vegetation and
then set to burn. It burned like gasoline and
VEITNAM WAR destroyed all surrounding vegetation.

The Vietnam War damaged the nation in

large number of ways. One of the biggest
advantage that the Viet Cong soldiers had
over the US marines in the war over south
Vietnam was their knowledge of the land.
This helped them to stay undetected. The US
found they could overpower this military
tactic by using chemicals to clear large areas

Page 10 of 25
Chemical defoliation destroyed
environment but the US government
considered it mandatory to defeat the Viet
Cong. In 2006 the Vietnam government
estimates over 4 million people were victims
of these chemicals but the US government
refused to any such connection.
Heavy machinery was brought in to further
deforest rate the grounds. These machines
caused erosion and killed massive number of
animals and tons of vegetation. Due to
bombing craters were formed which affected
the drainage patterns. These basins become
hosts to disease bearing organisms further
affecting the ecosystem.
LIBYA WAR
Libya is located in the north of Africa, and
like every other developing country Libya
also suffers from environmental
degradation. Major issues are water born
disease, shortage of fresh
desertification, deforestation, overgrazing,
etc. The situation may intensify if the
country is unable to have a stable
government. The war in Libya is a civil war.
So other countries intervene and focus more
on their benefits such as selling their
weapons rather than the problem faced by
the people of Libya. Lack of essential
infrastructure and government’s indifference
Page 11 of 25
the with the environment is a major setback
when countries like Libya enter the state of
war.
The main problem Libya is facing right
now is of fresh water. The shortage of
drinking water in Libya is severe. The fresh
water is continuously getting contaminated
due to oil and other contaminants. The
careless government has no plan to prevent
this in future. Lack of fresh water led to lack
of food. Libya has to rely on other country’s
resource. Majority of people in Libya are
suffering from economical depression.
USA and Russia pursued Gaddafi to stop the
water,
use of radioactive uranium but he declined.
Radioactive equipment under any condition
is dangerous for the environment and for the
people.
Libya is an oil rich country and any
disturbance on that front such as burning oil
wells, which was the case in Kuwait during
Gulf War will cause an enormous disaster
on the environment.
 when it ends.

AFGHANISTAN WAR
Ecosystem in Afghanistan has suffered
decades of struggle, and the war has only
increased the destruction. The lands most
affected by war are home to hyenas, tigers,
snow leopards, gazelles and cheetahs among
This pollution would directly affect the
others.
animals, birds and humans as well as
According to the Afghanistan’s National
contribute to the air pollution. Pollution
Environmental Protection Agency around 80
from the air in the shape of fumes end up in
species are in the category of endangered. In
rivers, lakes and oceans, which are far from
2003, the United Nations Environment
the site of fire.
Program (UNEP) said that war and drought
Libya has deserts which had no sign of
have lead to extreme land and resource
humans before the war but as the war
degradation, lowered water levels,
progressed the deserts were filled up with
deforestation, defoliation, erosion and loss
huge amount of tanks and military. This lead
of wildlife. Birds are killed and sent off their
to changes in landscape. There is insecurity
migratory course. Birds leave Central Asia
at the border due to terrorists and also due to
and Siberia to head towards their winter
drug traffickers.
homes in the south. Usually these birds flow
Almost an year after war in Libya, the through Afghanistan to the southeastern
instability continued and help from outside Kazakhstan, but their numbers have rapidly
Libya was not an option because it would decreased in past years.
lead to fragmentation and restarting of the
conflict. Which did happen in 2014 when
the war in Libya started again and is still
going on as of 2016.

This time even oil field were set to fire and

the final impact of the war will be know

Page 12 of 25

Siberian cranes and two protected species
of pelicans face the most risk. The war’s
exact impact on these species is still
unknown. A reason can be the killing of
birds via bombing, poisoning of the lands
which were used by these birds, another
reason may be that these birds are taking
detoured, because their migration is very
precise. They migrate in a route and if they
are disturbed, they might change their route.
But these animals are not only at risk of
being killed by bombing, they are also at
risk of being killed by refugees. As killing
an endangered species that is said to be
fewer than 100, can get the refugee $2,000
on the black market for its skin and other
parts. That money in turn can help these
displaced Afghanis pay for safe passage into
other countries.
Afghanistan has faced nearly 30 years of
terrible resource exploitation, even before to
the most recent war. This has led to a
collapse of government systems and thus
Page 13 of 25
displacing millions of people. Most of the
grasslands are overgrazed and wildlife is
slaughtered. As a result, the land is on the
verge of being unfit for even the simplest of
agriculture. Refugees are also cutting into
forests for firewood. Afghanistan’s is having
huge refugee crisis, the government is
unstable, a state of extreme poverty, water
supply is polluted, drought, land mines and
excessive bombings, all this is a part of the
country’s extreme environmental
predicament. As bombing continues, not
only civilians are at risk but environment as
well. The actual environmental impacts of
the war may not be known for years,
perhaps decades, to come. Wars not only kill
humans, but life. There simply is no such
thing as environmentally friendly war.
CONGO WAR
The Democratic Republic of Congo in
Africa has enormous tropical rainforests,
spread across 250 million acres. One of the
few forests in Africa to have outlasted the
ice age, the eastern forest is widely diverse.
Forests extend over 45% of Congo, which
acts as a home for mammal species, which
are near extinction in other countries.
Overall, there are 11,000 species of plants,
450 species of mammals, 1,150 species of
birds, 300 species of reptiles and 200 species
of amphibians. As Congo has gone through
terrible violence and suffering over the past
decade, the country’s environmental
diversity had to suffer. The Second Congo
War began in 1998 and officially ended in
2002 but small disturbances are seen till
date. Nine African nations were involved in
this war and a total of 3.8 million people lost
their lives. This was said to be the deadliest
warfare since the WWII. Millions of people
were displaced and it had major impact on
the environment.
During the war, movement of millions of
refugees and fighting through forest regions
damaged wildlife and the protected areas
were destroyed. Virunga National Park
suffered extreme damage by military and
refugees who chopped down 36 million trees
from the park and hunted gorillas and other
animals. Garamba National Park, was raided
by Sudanese military who hunted
endangered wildlife using weapons, while
Page 14 of 25
Okapi Faunal Reserve, was severly damaged
by refugee migrations and military, who
looted and stole conservation equipment.
Congo has a beautiful history of national
parks and being the first country in Africa to
create a national park. Traditionally, parks in
Congo have been well-managed compared
to protected areas in surrounding countries.
Before the war, parks were largely funded
by fees collected from tourists. Congo's
government has taken a good interest in
protecting the country's forests. In 2002, the
government imposed a ban on the allocation
of new logging concessions. In 2005 the
government received a $90-million grant
from the World Bank to help it police
existing forestry concessions, control new
concessions, and develop sustainable
management plans for its forests. The
government also joined the Coalition for
Rainforest Nations, a group of tropical
developing nations that sought and won
money from industrial countries for
rainforest protection at the November 2005
climate conference in Montreal.

THE LITTLE BOY & FAT MAN
The United States with the agreement of
United Kingdom as mentioned in the
Quebec Agreement, dropped nuclear bombs
on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima on 6th
Aug and Nagasaki on 9th Aug in 1945,
during the final stage of World War II. This
bombing killed 130,000 people and it
remains the only use of nuclear weapons for
war in history.
Page 15 of 25
The US dropped a uranium gun-type atomic
bomb named “Little Boy” on Hiroshima and
a plutonium implosion-type bomb named
“Fat Man” on Nagasaki. Six days after
bombing Nagasaki, Japan announced its
surrender to the Allies, effectively ending
WWII. The bomb’s ethical justification are
debated till today.
Hiroshima was a city of both industrial and
military significance. On 6thof Aug the
bomb contain about 64kg of uranium-235
was dropped above the city. It missed its
among point and detonated directly over
Hiroshima Surgical Clinic and its efficiency
was only 1.7%. As the buildings in
Hiroshima were constructed to withstand
earthquakes their framework didn’t collapse
but were severely affected.
About 70% of the buildings were destroyed
and 146,000 people were killed. As the
bomb hit the clinic 90% of the doctors and
93% of the nurses were killed or injured.
 The city of Nagasaki was one of the largest
seaports in southern Japan and had great
importance due to its industrial activities.
The bomb ‘Fat Man’ was to be dropped at
the city of Kokura but due to some events it
was headed for the secondary target which
was the city of Nagasaki.
gamma rays in both the cities. These
radiations have led to leukemia and cancer.
Thousands of people have lost their lives
due to this and continue to do so. Both cities
were soon rebuilt after the war and have
again become important industrial centers.
The population of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
has grown to over one million and 440,000
respectively. Nuclear energy has now come
to be an important part of the life of each
city in a totally new way. Today a quarter of
Hiroshima's electricity is from nuclear
power and half of that for Nagasaki is
nuclear.

. The bomb contained 6.4kg of plutonium

and it exploded above a tennis court. This
was more powerful than the ‘Little Boy’ but
the effects were confined by the Uramaki
Valley and killed 80,000 people. The
remnant of the bombs was supposed to rise
in the air but it didn’t happen. Most of the
remnants did went with the smoke in the
atmosphere but it rained in the area and the
rain took some of the remnant with it and it
was seeped underground thus contaminating
the water as well as the soil for centuries to
come. This rain was called the black rain as
it brought some more remnants down with
it. The major source of penetration was

Page 16 of 25
THE SOLUTIONS
“War does not determine who is right, just
who is left”-Bertrand Russell
The greed of humans to attain power and
position through warfare has led to so much
destruction that it requires that some steps
be taken such that something synonymous
with Word War III does not happen and also
minimizes the already present unearthly
outcomes to blur off in the coming years.
The never ending environmental impacts
include direct as well as indirect impacts
which include bomb and blast damage to
settlements, rural areas and communication
networks, defoliation and ecosystem
destruction, the dumping of the machinery
of war the destruction of resources such as
oil fields, distortion of population
composition as young males join the
conflict, land abandonment, loss of life and
so many others things just destroying the
very thing in which we live, our ecosystem.
This can be achieved in various ways
including stern implementation of peace
treaties as well as the UN guidelines at the
utmost level without any exceptions so as to
avoid any glitch in the already heated levels
Page 17 of 25
of relationships between some of the
countries.
Preventing warfare is an impossible task to
accomplish but we can certainly diminish
the consequences as is rightly said by
Michael Reilly, “If you’re worried about the
environment but still need to blow people
up, a new class of nitrogen-based bomb
materials is for you”. Nowadays newer
technologies are rising to fame, your
enemies are finished with the click of a
button and there goes the brutal God’s
arrow, blowing up the very land that it falls
upon and also the beings on it, with clouds
of fire and smoke, an indication of the
destruction of our environment.
Many wars including the Gulf War, World
War I and II, the Kuwait Oil spills as well as
many civil wars have wreaked havoc not
only at the immediate moment but also for
years to come.
But the havoc could have been after not at
that time but afterwards, simply by keeping
an eye on proper infrastructure, increase in
ammunitions, power in the wrong hands
having a dictatorial attitude, ignoring
cultural tensions due to different beliefs and
on top of them all, bounded technological
advancements over the years could indeed
be some of the steps that can be taken
towards ending or at least diminishing these
warfare related problems and are further
discussed below along with a few other
solutions in detail with respect to particular
wars or in some cases all of the wars, to
discuss if some of these could have helped if
implemented earlier and some which can
help us now and even in the future.
international armed conflicts, cooperation at
this level can be brought only by an
organization powerful enough to do so and
also has a large majority of the world in
support of it such as the United Nations,

We need this to end as soon as possible. The

most effective way to stop such wars from
happening is through international
cooperation.

If all the nation see the environmental threat

of wars as a common enemy, then and only
then can they really focus on the other
agenda’s including global warming etc.

having 193 member states and has roots

deep into the legislation of its members for

UNITED NATIONS maximum impact of the fulfillment of its

laws as it is an old organization founded in
There is no permanent international
1945.
authority to monitor legal defaulters and
look out for compensation claims for It has a separate department or division

environmental damages sustained during known as the UNEP (United Nations

Environment Programmed) which further

Page 18 of 25
has some laws for protecting
environment from armed conflict which are
discussed below: -
International Humanitarian Law-
Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva
Conventions, Article 35(3) and Article 55(1)
(1977) which say that in the case of warfare,
none of the parties can are allowed to use
means which can cause widespread, long
term and severe damage to the environment.
Prohibition of Military or Any Other Use of
Environmental Modification Techniques
(ENMOD) (1976) which prohibits any of the
participants of warfare to cause
environmental abnormalities like
earthquakes etc.
International Criminal Law-
It not only prohibits the loss of environment
in wars but also makes it a criminal offence
to do so and also promises harsh
consequences for those who do not wish to
follow.
International Environmental Law-
A rather collective term for all of the
arrangements, treaties, laws etc. for the
preservation of the environment.
Page 19 of 25
the Human Rights Law-
The term environment is not explicitly
mentioned but can be inferred from
statements like “Right to Life” and “Proper
Living Standards” which cannot be fulfilled
with the lack of an appropriate environment
which is healthy enough to sustain life.
Although these laws consist of a lot more
explanations and implications, the main
things which are important with respect to
the environment were discussed above and
the implementation rather than the already
present awareness is required to subdue the
warfare effects on environment. The UN has
yet to become the legal authority to deal
with such matters, the more time it takes to
do so, the harsher would be the
consequences and even if it is not the case, it
is necessary for the UN to keep in check all
the participating states which did not happen
in the case of Vietnam and American
conflict because of which the environmental
effects as already discussed earlier were
present.

THE NEED FOR NEWER LAWS
Although there are quite a few laws that
have been mentioned above and still quite a
few which have not been mentioned, even
these laws are not enough to cover all the
problems related to our discussion.
But the main problem is that there are no
new laws being made because of a very
limited number of cases being brought to the
court i.e. if the court does not get appeals
against their war effects on environment, the
respective governments would not be
required to formulate new laws or even start
a discussion. So, there is a need to approach
the court for these matters in as large a
number as possible so there could be newer
laws for the safety of our environment.
Another major problem in these existing
laws is that a majority of them are for
international legal provisions in case of
Page 20 of 25
armed conflicts but as a matter of fact, there
is also a need for laws that apply to internal
conflicts as well.
For e.g. In the case of the civil war in Libya
already mentioned above, the lack of
internal laws resulted in shortage of clean
water and many other such problems. So,
this legal vacuum acts as a hurdle while
preventing environmental damages often
caused during internal conflicts. The Human
rights law commission and tribunals can also
be used to check and investigate about
environmental damages caused during
international as well as internal armed
conflicts. There is also a need for legal
arguments and agreements regarding these
matters to be as transparent to the common
public as possible so that these legal
attributes do not lack legitimacy that is
essential for implementation, the first thing
solution to be discussed in this context.
BETTER RESOURCES
Improper infrastructure is a problem faced
by mainly the developing and the under
developed countries such as Libya, India etc.
Lack of proper infrastructure can result to
very big problems in the state of external or
even internal war. Just as in the case of
Libya where contamination of drinking
water severed the already existent problem
of scarcity of water and on top of that a
careless government, Libya was doomed
even before the war started. To counter this,
we need impartial governments to allocate
some of the resources towards
infrastructure of the country which will
enable the country to at least cope up with
the after effects of war.
PROPER REFUGE
Another problem faced by several countries
is that after a particular war, the inhabitants
of the war zone have to migrate to other
areas and sometimes even other countries.
History is evident enough that the refugee
camps that are set up are unable to provide
even basic needs and space for living. This
in turn puts pressure on the environment for
vegetation and firewood which would
eventually lead to deforestation.
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the
The only way to counter this is for
neighboring countries to start preparing as
soon even the rumors of a war are out, even
if the war does not happen, the at least there
would have been proper arrangements in
case of a war. Offering refuge isn’t the only
way by which countries can help other
countries, another way to do so would be by
providing amenities to the areas of other
countries where the refugee camps have
been set up but lack the proper requirements.
For e.g. South Africa and Tanzania exported
millions of dollars’ worth timber or
firewood to Afghanistan in the time of need.
Bounded Technological
Advancement
In this tech savvy world of ours, inventions
are the most common thing and technology
is advancing at a pace faster than ever.
Nuclear fission was discovered in 1934, and
the first nuclear power plant came in 1942,
only 3 years after that the first nuclear bomb
was tested which is known as the Hiroshima
Nagasaki tragedy, killing over 1.3 lakh and living environment followed by the real
people as discussed earlier. rather at a very fast pace.

So, it is necessary to keep a strict eye out for These strategies are more common in civil
technological advancements in warfare wars than in international crusades.
having adverse effects on the environment
Some good examples are the recent
Even though there are bodies which are
Rwandan and Congolese civil wars where at
guiding and governing these R&D
least 8 lakh Tutsis to scare away as many as
programs, but they also need to look out for
2 million Hutus in a matter of weeks.
harmful effects on the

environment caused or to be caused by these

advancements and not just look at the power
and war advantage factor when it comes to
CONCLUSION
these inventions. Rather than advancements So, as far, we have discussed about the
in the field of war, advancements should aftermaths of wars on the environment in
also be focused on how to help countries
physical, social and biological terms. We
manage the effects of war and one such
have seen that it is only us, who are
example being the Landsat Thematic
enslaving the environment on the name
Mapper which helped in the oil spills in the
of war. The human tendency had been
gulf war. There are many more examples
shown very aptly and apprehensively in
where technology has helped minimize the
outcomes of advanced warfare and worked the entire blog. The tendency to destruct

in favor of affected countries. the mankind by means of war is

depicting the human nature vey cruelly.

ERADICTION OF STRATEGIC
ATTACKS ON ECOSYSTEM

The environment effects are not only

because of the war but also because of the
fact that in a good number of wars, the first
things attacked are the enemies’ ecosystem

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 As far as nature is concerned, it is only
us who need it for survival on this earth.
Nature can survive without us but we
can't. ITS IMPOSSIBLE!.............

In this blog, we eventually and

successfully unveiled the harmful
environmental pacts, measures to save
the environment and what people require
to save their basic need.

As of ancient traces and history, this

nature, this environment, this earth is all
alone. It survived even before we

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existed. Rather, it survived far more
better than now.
So, at last, our environment is our life,
so, the existing nations in today's time
need to sign the peace pacts between the
nations and work together to develop the
earth remembering the harms of modern
development on environment.
Development in the sense means, the
development of both SOCIAL and
TECHNICAL environment.

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 REFRENCES
•www.en.wikipedia.org

• Protecting the Environment During

Armed Conflict (An Inventory and •http://www.history.com/topics
Analysis of International Law) /Vietnam-war/vietna m-war-history

•Environmental impact of war •www.images.google.com

technology and prohibition processes
(Thesis for the degree of Master of
Science) by Saloume Bazyan. •http://www.worldwatch.org/

•THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT •www1.american.edu

OF WAR & TERRORISM by Dr. A
M Mannion
•www.malignani.ud.it

•Coping with revolutionary

technological change in land warfare
by Richard J Dunn Ill
•http://world-nuclear.org

•www.un.org •www.counterpunch.org

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