When War Causes Environmental Problems
- Ralph Quinlan Forde BSc Hons MA
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
From the last few weeks we have all heard the news reports on a daily basis of all the bombings taking place in the Middle East and especially in Iran. The bomb scene's, the death toll and all the destruction. Over 300 sites have been bombed to date.
Not much has been spoken of the environmental problems and environmental damage that is taking place. This will last for years and possibly decades.
The Environmental Problems from The War in Kuwait
One of the biggest examples of the type of environmental problems and destruction that can take place when war in the Middle East breaks out, is when we look at the environmental cost of the war in 1991 in Kuwait.
According to Laurence Menhinick from the Toxic Remnants of War Project, 'More than 700 oil wells were blown up, with most igniting, burning 6m barrels per day for nearly ten months. Damaged oil wells spewed crude oil, forming lakes covering at least 50km2. Fallout from dispersing smoke plumes created a thick deposit known as tarcrete over 1,000km2 of Kuwait’s deserts. Meanwhile, 11m barrels of crude oil from storage units, sabotaged pipelines and oil tankers spilled into the Persian Gulf, damaging 800km of coastline. The impact of the oil on air and land quality, terrestrial and marine habitats and biodiversity was immediate, severe and long-lasting, damaging natural resources and threatening human health.'
$3 Billion Compensation from the UNCC for Environmental Damage
The compensation package that was agreed to compensate Kuwait for the environmental damage by the war in Kuwait in 1991 by the United Nation Compensation Committee (UNCC) came to $3 billion.
The following damages were recognized by the UNCC:
Contamination of freshwater aquifers to an extent of millions of cubic meters in North Kuwait, namely Raudhatain and Umm Al-Aish;
Over 800 miles of coastal area contaminated with oil;
A long man-made trench filled with oil (over 4.7 km) ;
6.25 kms of military fortifications obliterated the balance of desert ecosystem;
271.5 km² of tarcrete deposition (mixture of desert sand and gravel combined with oil and soot to form a layer of hardened "tarcrete")
163 wellhead pits, resulting from blown out oil wells on land;
114 km² of desert area severely affected by dozens of oil lakes and over 26 million m³ (cubic meters) of contaminants that need to be removed into landfills.
In addition to the the above the UNCC stated, 'Further damage resulted as a result of the disposal of ordnance, unexploded ordance (UXO), and desert, coastal, and marine ecosystems were disturbed.'
Other countries were compensated to the tune of millions who applied under the compensation scheme for environmental damage for their jurisdiction.
War is not cheap nor is the compensation cost of environmental damage which is hardly discussed by BBC, CNN, news channels and newspapers.
The environment and damage to it never seems to make it to the main news?
War on Iran - Environmental Disaster
The recent war on Iran is causing all sorts of environmental disaster.
There is now toxic 'black rain' falling on Tehran and its citizens.
The Environment Observatory states, ' As of the 10th March 2026, we have identified over 300 incidents, 232 of which have been assessed for their environmental risk. The results are mapped below, showing incidents in Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Jordan, Cyprus, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Azerbaijan. By far the commonest facility type is a ‘Military Object’ (123). Of those the most impacted sub-type is ‘Airbases’ (26). Away from military sites, incidents cover a range of facility types, with different pollution profiles, from hospitals, to tyre storage sites, to oil refineries. As the conflict proceeds we are seeing more attacks on civilian and dual use infrastructure.'
They went on to say, 'Likely contaminants include fuels, oils, heavy metals, energetic compounds and PFAS, while fires can release dioxins and furans.'
All of these chemicals can cause disease like cancer and possible genetic mutations.
Marine ecosystems are more or less destroyed from these types of oil spills.
In addition to this clouds of toxic fumes are being pumped into the earths atmosphere. People think this is somehow an unlimited resources and infinite but its not. The height of our atmosphere is the short distance between London to Oxford.
The less the atmosphere is polluted the better.
The Importance of The Environment in Health & Wellbeing
In all Asian medical text books, even from the Middle Ages, the environment is the first chapter of any book on medicine, health promotion and disease prevention.
If this environment is polluted sickness and suffering will follow.
Environmental damage must be considered in the decision making process before entering into war.
This needs to be put into a legal framework that is international in nature something perhaps the United Nations could consider and the European Commission.
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