Wars in Ukraine and Palestine are causing catastrophic environmental destruction. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, Ukraine, which produces 10% of global wheat exports, has seen over 20% of its agricultural land rendered unusable. In Gaza, more than two million people lack safe drinking water, with coastal aquifers contaminated by seawater and sewage.
These conflicts emit much carbon, deprive the world of critical ecosystems, and threaten global food security. They have systematically targeted agricultural infrastructure, reshaping landscapes into toxic, unproductive territories with long-lasting ecological consequences.
The consequences are there, immediate and deadly when destruction and chaos ravage a world fueled by wars. But perhaps just as evil, less noted for discussion, and just as disastrous is the destruction of the environment. Ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine serve as graphic examples of how warfare is ruining ecosystems, which support life, and threatening human health forever.
The environment takes a beating in the form of the destruction of agricultural systems, poisoning of air and water resources, deforestation, and soil contamination. The targeting of infrastructure and the natural environment for military gain has emerged as the most central war strategy, causing ecological damage to ecosystems at both the local and global levels. Accelerating climate change and escalating the fragility of ecological balance add more daunting dimensions to the devastation brought about by the war on already weakened planet challenges.
Human calamities caused by war are well documented and understood, but long-term environmental devastations are rarely reported. War’s consequences may flow across national boundaries, and ecological destruction in Ukraine and Palestine can have far-reaching effects throughout the world. This paper seeks to shed light on the environmental crises in these two conflict zones, investigate how war advances ecological degradation, and reflect on the larger implications for global peace, health, and environmental security.
Ukraine: A Nation’s Ecology Under Siege
Ukraine, once the breadbasket of Europe, has witnessed its agricultural sector and natural resources severely battered by the ongoing war. Ever since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, the country has witnessed such mass destruction that it not only displaced millions but destroyed its natural landscape. The devastation ranges from eradicating agricultural land to poisoning their water sources and air, and this impact is directly proportional to the scale of the war. Changes threaten the ecological future of Ukraine; for instance, global food insecurity will have severe consequences.
Destruction Of Agriculture And Farmland
Ukraine is one of the largest producers and exporters of grains worldwide, boasting wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower oil. Its fertile soil and expansive farmlands have been critical in feeding millions of people worldwide. However, much of the agricultural land has been decimated since the war started. The Russian military has targeted strategic infrastructure, including power plants, bridges, roads, and agricultural facilities. These attacks have rendered much of the country’s farmland unusable, either through direct damage caused or through contamination left by explosives and chemicals used during the conflict.
The landmines remain a significant threat to agricultural communities in Ukraine as well as on the uneven spread across the country’s farmland, further inhibiting the farmers from being able to cultivate the land. Thus, the danger of landmines remains long after a conflict occurs, and agricultural systems recover slowly and perilously.
In addition, whole fields of wheat and sunflower crops that make Ukraine’s economy have been destroyed due to direct missile strikes and bombings. Crops that have previously sustained global food markets now face destruction, disrupting the country’s economy but even more so the food supply chains of millions worldwide.
Besides crop destruction, the war has also damaged the infrastructure that makes agriculture possible. The irrigation systems, the storage facilities, the processing plants, and transport routes are shut down; therefore, vast amounts of produce go unharvested or wasted. With Ukrainian agricultural productivity in tatters, these outcomes are being felt worldwide in the markets. According to the United Nations estimates, the conflict has caused a profound reduction of agricultural production in Ukraine, leading to a general food crisis that has started affecting countries from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Contamination Of Water And Soil
Widespread water contamination has now become one of Ukraine’s other nightmares related to the war. Russia’s shelling has badly damaged parts of water infrastructure, including treatment plants, reservoirs, and pumping stations, leaving many residents with no access to pure drinking water, and it is heartbreaking to report a substantial surge in the spread of waterborne diseases since untreated sewage is mixing with their drinking water.
In addition to water treatment systems, soil was polluted by heavy artillery and chemicals, including explosives and oil, during the war. These will remain there for a long time and affect recovery processes and future crops. This, then, causes a great health risk to both people living there and the wildlife that depends on those ecosystems.
It is difficult to predict the long-term effects of this degradation and pollution of the soil. Debris and poisoning of the soil may result in lower crop yields for many years to come, with Ukrainian farmers being forced to rely on imported fertilizers and soil treatments that can further break down the lands. This sort of cycle of environmental degradation is not a local phenomenon but an international issue since it has the potential to destabilize food systems that are integral to global stability.
Air Pollution And Climate Change
Apart from the loss of agriculture and water, the war has notably increased air pollution in areas being affected. With the massive use of explosives, the industrial sites happen to have been targeted, which means an increasing amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) along with other dangerous pollutants finding their way into the air. Increasing carbon emissions due to the ongoing Ukraine war from military vehicles and destroyed infrastructure add to the global climate crisis, which has already reached alarming rates.
The destruction of Ukraine’s oil refineries and its infrastructure of energy became one of Russia’s early strategies during the war months, with the subsequent massive fires that emitted hazardous chemicals into the sky contributing to the warming of the Earth, where CO2 levels are at recorded history levels. It only worsens the environmental impact because many of Ukraine’s forests, wetlands, and other natural ecosystems have been destroyed or impacted by military action, thus reducing the planet’s capacity to absorb carbon and mitigate climate change.
Ukraine’s forests and natural landscapes are critical in regulating local climates and stabilizing global carbon levels. Deforestation caused by the war—either directly through military action or indirectly through the disruption of environmental protections—has increased Ukraine’s carbon footprint. The loss of these ecosystems weakens the country’s ability to fight climate change and contributes to global warming.
Palestine: Ecocide And Environmental Warfare
Of course, the environmental degradation in Ukraine is profoundly disturbing. Still, a host of ecological damages have also been released by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially in Gaza and the West Bank. The ecologic cost of this decades-long Israeli military occupation can be termed “ecocide,” through which Palestine’s ecosystems and resources have been intentionally and systematically destroyed. This destruction targets both the people and the environment in a form of environmental warfare deeply embedded in the ongoing conflict.
Water And Agriculture Under Siege
Water scarcity is at the apex of environmental challenges that Palestine has to face. For a long, the area has faced water shortages, and Israel’s control of the most critical water resources makes this problem even worse. Most of the Palestinian territories rely heavily on underground aquifers Israel has diverted and exploited for its own purposes. Such extraction of water has left Palestinians with limited access to clean water and undermined the agricultural systems in the region, which are very important for food security and livelihoods.
In Gaza, the situation is particularly dire. The severe restriction on the movement of goods imposed since 2007 by Israel has included essential supplies for water treatment and agricultural production. Therefore, both seawater and sewage have polluted Gaza’s main source of fresh water which is the coastal aquifer thus leaving over two million people without adequate, safe drinking water, which is a human’s basic right.
Through the destruction of agricultural land and the uprooting of olive trees, Palestinian farmers have also suffered, as for centuries, such agriculture and culture have formed the backbone of Palestinian society. The Israeli military has, at different times, targeted olive trees, which are essential in the livelihoods of Palestinians, for destruction. In military attacks, the olive oil that is produced from these trees, a relevant export in Palestinian interest, is consumed by fire, uprooted, or cut down. The Israeli military has also occupied agricultural land for settlement expansion, and access to farmers’ fields is barred due to military restrictions.
Such a systematic cleaning of Palestine’s agricultural base has led to widespread food insecurity. Palestinian agriculture has long been the core of the community’s cultural identity. Agricultural resource loss, therefore, threatens not only livelihoods but also the very identity of Palestinian society. This ecological attack further compounds the effects of the blockade and military occupation in making it increasingly impossible for Palestinians to maintain their food sovereignty.
The Impact Of Military Pollution
One of the most insidious environmental impacts resulting from the Israeli occupation is the use of toxic weapons, including white phosphorus and depleted uranium, in military operations. White phosphorus was used in Gaza during various military campaigns. It is highly poisonous and causes bad burn cases along with severe respiratory damage. It also leaves a piece of environmental contamination because it moves through vegetation on fire, polluting the soil, water, and air. The long-term effects of exposure to white phosphorus and depleted uranium in Gaza will likely cause health problems for years to come, with children, pregnant women, and the elderly being the most vulnerable to its effects.
Further, military pollution of the environment in Gaza will provide a toxic legacy that will prevail for centuries. The use of these chemicals and explosives is a form of environmental warfare aimed at degrading land and displacing the local population. In addition to immediate health effects from contamination of air, water, and soil, the population in this region will continue to be affected by these contaminants at both human and wildlife levels.
International Implications Of Environmental Injustice
Environmental degradation in Palestine is of global concern. Attacks on resources coupled with the continuous degradation of ecosystems threaten global ecology. Just like the situation of war in Ukraine, environmental degradation through violence in Palestine directly feeds climate change. This is, for instance, through the emission of greenhouse gases and destruction of carbon-absorbing ecosystems such as forests and wetlands.
The environmental impacts of war also range further afield than just the immediate region, ripples affecting the whole globe. The destruction of agricultural systems in both Ukraine and Palestine has a rippling effect on global food security. Since those areas are subjected to environmental degradation, any country that imports products from those regions is going to pay the price in increased prices and food shortages, which would further the instability and conflict in other parts of the world.
The deliberate destruction of the environment during a conflict violates not only the principles of international humanitarian law but also compounds the climate crisis. Failure to respond to environmental harm in war zones reinforces a cycle of ecological destruction that extends beyond the borders themselves.
A Call for Global Action: Environmental Security as a Peace Strategy
Environmental implications of war cannot be overlooked for long. The International Community must realize the inextricable bonding between environmental security and peace. Wars can only be fought by addressing the immediate human casualty of war; they must also be fought with a necessary answer to the cause of long-term environmental destruction and its impact on global health and stability.
Both in Ukraine and in Palestine, there is a demonstrated failure by the international community in addressing the ecological cost of the conflict. Meanwhile, humanitarian aid continues to pour into such regions, while very little environmental aid is found; long-term recovery plans that account for the ecological damage are neglected. The destruction of the environment must be counted under the human cost of conflict, and reparations and recovery efforts should include environmental restoration and sustainability.
Let us not forget that while we fight over the past, we are continously destroying the future, for everyone and the resources that could be used for the betterment of the world are being burned over land. Further, the piece of land that all these wars are being fought for, can no longer even support life.
The world needs environmental security more today than ever because it is facing the major threat of climate change. War and conflict exacerbate the grim challenges of climate change by releasing carbon emissions, destroying ecosystems, and poisoning air, water, and soil. Environmental devastation wrought by war threatens all life on Earth, and together the global community must take action urgently to stop further ecocide.
