By Jacqueline Liu - Hong Kong SAR
Introduction
Our society is more turbulent today than it was a decade ago. Among a multitude of formidable challenges looming, world leaders are faced with the harsh reality of selecting and prioritising between them to determine which is the most pressing. The threat of war has persisted in society for as long as humans have been alive, though in recent years, environmental degradation – the deterioration of the environment through the deterioration of natural resources such as air, water, and soil ("Environmental Degradation") – has become a heavily discussed topic on social media and news outlets. How should we judge which poses the greater threat? Through the consideration of environmental degradation and wars, this article aims to explore why environmental degradation is the more pressing and existential of the two threats.
The problem of environmental degradation
Rapid population growth accelerates environmental degradation. As the world’s population increases, uneven income distribution also increases as a result of the structure of our economy which emphasises profit for the rich and debt for the poor. The repercussions of the increasing wealth gap are especially destabilising for the poor, who tend to settle in low lying urban areas, which are more affordable but prone to flooding. Flooding has led to a widespread increase in waterborne diseases such as dysentery, cholera, and pneumonia. As the population density of these areas tends to be high, diseases spread more quickly due to proximity and lack of infrastructure such as water sanitation plants and waste disposal plants. In Pakistan, an average of 50,000 metric tonnes of waste is generated a day, while only 60% is collected and dealt with. The collected waste is often burnt, causing the release of harmful toxins as well as releasing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane (Khan and Naqvi 11). This impacts the health of many people, and may create and exacerbate pulmonary diseases.
When people living in poor rural areas experience environmental degradation, they resort to desperate actions like migration. Journeys are often dangerous, and displaced people in new cities or countries are especially vulnerable to exploitation, as they are often desperate for work and don’t speak the language, making environmental degradation a significant contributor to human trafficking, violent activity and forced labour (Lazaro). In addition, large populations of displaced communities settling in temporary refuges or refugee camps can also lead to more environmental degradation due to the lack of infrastructure available to support them.
While vulnerability caused by various aspects of local environmental degradation creates a disproportionate threat to the poor, these issues need to be tackled by the global community because environmental degradation is a global threat. Environmental degradation is intrinsically linked to human action, for example, deforestation and warfare. Deforestation is one of the leading causes of environmental degradation: it reduces biodiversity by reducing available habitats, disrupts the water cycle, and contributes to climate change. Although in the short term, cutting down trees has brought economic prosperity to groups of people, in the long term, the effects are destructive, exacerbating the rate of global warming. Up to 15 billion trees are cut down annually. These forests are home to so much life on Earth – more than half of the world’s land-based plants and animals live in them. The probable extinction of species as a result of the loss of their habitats will potentially affect the development of new drugs and reduce ecosystem adaptability, leading to the loss of genetic resources. Furthermore, millions of people rely directly on forests as their homes. In addition, trees absorb and store carbon dioxide. As forests are cleared daily, more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, accounting for 10% of global warming ("THE EFFECTS OF DEFORESTATION").
Wars can also cause a significant toll on environmental degradation. High intensity conflicts require and consume vast quantities of fuel, leading to massive CO2 emissions, contributing to climate change. Large vehicle movements can lead to physical damage of the sensitive natural landscapes and geodiversity. For example, on the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, gamma radiation in Chernobyl was reported to be approximately 28 times the annual limit due to heavy vehicle movements ("Ukraine and the Others: The Environmental Impacts of War").
The use of explosive weapons in urban areas creates vast quantities of debris and rubble, augmenting air and soil pollution (Weir). The threats of environmental degradation have been recognised by officials and action has been taken in an attempt to mitigate and adapt accordingly. However, many actions have been mere band-aids; once the band-aid wears out or is torn off, the gaping wound lying beneath all those legislations is revealed. For example, COP meetings held yearly aim to promote environmental action and sustainability. Goals are often established but usually no action is ever taken to make sure the goals are accomplished. Substantial action needs to be taken by the international community to heal wounds; simply covering them is no longer sufficient.
The problem with wars
Economically, war poses a significant threat to all countries. The sum of money countries spend on its armed forces and weaponry alone accounts for an enormous financial loss. In WWII alone, although it lasted fewer than four years, it was estimated that the war cost over $4 trillion for the United States ("The Cost of U.S. Wars Then and Now"). In the longer run, economic repercussions are not just limited to the armed forces and weaponry. Take the example of Germany after WWI. During WWI, prices in Germany had already doubled. However, the sum of reparations Germany owed to the allies - as stated in the Treaty of Versailles - put the country under significant financial pressure. The rising cost of goods combined with a dramatic increase in the money supply created perfect conditions for inflation. The Weimar government printed more money in an attempt to pay the reparation debt, but it caused the problem to spiral out of control. By July 1922, prices had risen by some 700%, marking the arrival of hyperinflation. This then translated into communities losing schools, factories, roads, hospitals, and more – making economic recovery more difficult (Backhouse).
Furthermore, war disrupts the economics of the world through trade. Take, for example, the Russia-Ukraine war. Economic sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the government's decision to invade Ukraine have had immediate and significant impacts across already beleaguered global supply chains. Trade in commodities and industrial inputs that have been disrupted have caused prices to soar and shipping restrictions in the Black Sea have led to food shortages and inflation around the world, exemplifying how a singular action can lead to repercussions that impact a far wider community (Lee and Coble).
Most significantly, war causes loss of human lives. The evolution of warfare, including the development of nuclear arms in WWII, has caused the scope of mass destruction to widen substantially as compared to past wars. On the 6th of August 1945, a single atomic bomb - the first weapon of its kind ever used against a population target - exploded in the city of Hiroshima at 8:15 in the morning. Immediately, the surprise, the collapse of infrastructure, and the conflagration contributed to an unprecedented casualty rate, causing an immediate loss of 70-80,000 lives ("The Effects of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki").The short term impacts are horrific, but long term impacts due to radiation exposure lingered years after the explosion. The recent development of the conflict in Israel and Palestine is yet another grim reminder of the many civilian consequences of war. Over 1,300 people were estimated to have been killed in the first three days of fighting: including 800 Israelis and 500 Palestinians ("The Civilian Consequences of Conflict"). In the long term, war tears communities and families apart, causing a lasting psychological impact. The WHO estimated that, in conflicts around the world, ‘10% of the people who experience traumatic events will have serious mental health problems and another 10% will develop behaviour that will hinder their ability to function effectively.’ These effects can also follow from indirect experiences, or ‘second-hand trauma’ (Barceló).
Such trauma persists well after conflict ends. One in five people living in active or recent war zones has depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia ("The Civilian Consequences of Conflict"). Lucy Easthope, one of the UK's leading authorities on emergency planning, provided an insider’s perspective on situations most of us will only ever experience through news reports and documentaries in her book ‘When the Dust Settles’. While she says her role is “a Cinderella service…sweeping up below stairs”, she describes disaster to be “Perpetual, chronic, with a pain that ebbs and flows like tides.” (Easthope). The magnitude of casualties, and the psychological footprint of war that continues years after the conflict themselves underscores the indisputable and pervasive threat war poses to innocent civilians on the global stage. As such, international attention is imperative.
Conclusion
Despite the paramount threat and horrific effects of war, environmental degradation that penetrates all corners of society poses a greater threat to the international community. While on the surface environmental degradation might not have reached our corner of the society visibly, it is undeniable that our environment is in decline all around the world. War not only yields millions of casualties but also subjects countless individuals to enduring emotional and physical repercussions in the aftermath; however, its threat is not enough to match that of environmental degradation. The issue of environmental degradation is one attached to a ticking time bomb: we have less than six years to act, to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius, only so long before we reach a point of no return. It is crucial to recognise the challenges of wars but first, it’s even more essential to confront the pressing issue of environmental degradation so we actually have a world left to worry about.
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