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The Impact and Effects of War on the Environment (Air)

Updated: Aug 24, 2023


Impact of War on Outdoor Air Pollution
Impact of War on Air Pollution

Air pollution is a real threat to health. The study by WHO reveals that globally 7 million people died because of exposure to air pollution. These increased mortality mainly due to pollutant that are produced during wars. Wars between the countries releases some more toxic and chemical pollutant than that of factory and indoor pollutions. Human life and health are directly, immediately, and fatally affected by war. Military activities itself cause more impact followed by wars. After every war there a dramatic climatic change that directly leads to all the living beings in the world by contamination clean air, drinking water, underground soil, etc.


Warfare has a lengthy history on Earth, and it has 'evolved' dramatically throughout the millennia. A warrior used to leave his home early in the morning to go fight. He knew he'd be reunited with his folks the following evening unless he was murdered or crippled. This, however, has changed over time, with some wars lasting decades or more. The weapons of war are always evolving, moving through stages of growth, despite the fact that the backdrop of conflicts has remained constant. The wood needed to construct bows and arrows was harvested from the forest by ancient warriors.


Although fire was later added to the arsenal of weaponry, and this must have had an impact on the environment of the day, the forest bore the brunt of the fight, with little impact on the environment's air quality. The consequences of fire generated by natural events like as lightning strikes and volcanic eruptions would undoubtedly have been more severe. Today's wars are vastly different. Present war missiles used air to air, air to surface, surface to air, antiship, and antitank or assault. Where, equipments are heavy and contains toxic fuel, chemical etc,. Apart from destroying the opponents' life, the weapons are diverse and versatile, and can have a variety of impacts, including on the environment and the quality of air humans breathe before, during, and after each such occurrence.


Air pollution caused during development and testing:


The development and testing of all aspects linked to military weapons, hardware, and armament, as well as the essential training in their usage, begin with the impact of war activity on the environment, notably on air pollution. Air pollution mainly impacted during the development, testing, use and the disposal of conventional and chemical weapons. Between 1945 and 2009, a lot of countries worked on nuclear weapons development. It involved over 2000 tests over a 64-year period, and it is undeniable that air quality was greatly influenced by both the chemicals released in the atmosphere and, more importantly, the heat added to the planet's system, which must have influenced the streamlines of natural air flows over land and sea. This unwanted disposal in sewage or biological weapons usage leads to infectious diseases and migrations during the war. According to the EPA 80% of the death occurred due to the toxic chemical release by the weapons and missiles usage.


Conventional weapon:

Explosives incendiaries and weapons of various sizes, ranging from small arms and light weapons to large artillery and bombs make up conventional weapons. For example, move than 600 that erupted in Kuwait during the Persian gulf war caused massive environment devastation as well as acute and probably persistent respiratory illness in those who were exposed to the smoke. Some certain kind of weapons are prohibited under united nation convention on certain conventional weapon the following is the non-detectable fragments these conventional arm such as landmines, antipersonnel, inherently indiscriminate which causes unacceptable unitarian harm.









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