War and Nature The Environmental Consequences of War in a Globalized World

by Brauer, Jurgen

• ISBN13: 9780759112063
• ISBN10: 0759112061
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-10-15
• Publisher: AltaMira Press

Summary

The inherent dangers of war zones constrain even the most ardent researchers, with the consequence that little has been known for certain about the effects of war on stable environments. War and Nature sifts through the available data from past wars to evaluate the actual impact that combat has on natural surroundings. Examining conflicts of various kinds-the long war in tropical Vietnam, the relatively brief and highly technical wars in the Persian Gulf, and various civil wars in Africa and South-Central Asia fought with small arms-Jurgen Brauer asks whether differences in technology, location, and duration are critical in causing environmental and humanitarian harm. A number of unexpected conclusions are drawn from this data, including practical agendas for collecting scientific evidence in future wars and suggestions about what the world's environmental and conservation organizations can do. One thing War and Nature does is to show us how globalization can be a force harnessed for good ends. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Jurgen Brauer is professor of economics at the James M. Hull College of Business, Augusta State University.

Table of Contents

Figures and Tables	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Globalization, Nature, and War	p. 1
Natural Resource Consumption by Armed Forces	p. 1
Nuclear War and Nuclear Weapons Testing	p. 4
Nuclear War	p. 4
Nuclear Weapons Testing	p. 7
Need and Greed As Causes of War	p. 11
Measuring the Environmental Consequences of War	p. 19
Classifying War-Related Environmental Damage	p. 20
The Data: Finding Out What Really Happened	p. 26
The Environment in International Law of War	p. 32
Appendix: Why Nuclear Weapons?	p. 33
The Vietnam War	p. 45
Bombing, Bulldozing, and Other Nonherbicidal Destruction	p. 46
Bombing	p. 46
Bulldozing	p. 48
Other Nonherbicidal Destruction	p. 49
Herbicide Attacks	p. 49
Background	p. 49
Inland Forests: Terrestrial Plant Ecology and Forestry	p. 52
Forest Fauna: Animal Ecology	p. 58
Herbicide Persistence, Mobility, and Soil Ecology	p. 62
Coastal, Marine, and Aquatic Ecology	p. 64
Long-Term Effects	p. 69
In Sum	p. 72
The Persian Gulf War	p. 81
The Persian Gulf	p. 82
Scientific Missions and Data Gathering	p. 82
Geography and Oceanography of the Western Persian Gulf	p. 85
Marine Environments	p. 86
Supratidal and Intertidal Areas	p. 86
Benthic Communities, Fish, Shrimp, Coral Reefs, and Islands	p. 93
Marine Mammals and Turtles	p. 100
Birds	p. 102
Shorebirds	p. 103
Seabirds	p. 105
In Sum	p. 108
Bibliographic Note	p. 110
Civil War and Borderland Effects	p. 119
Rwanda and the Eastern Congo	p. 121
Rwanda	p. 123
The Eastern Congo	p. 130
Afghanistan and Pakistan	p. 139
Afghanistan	p. 139
The Effects of the Afghan Wars on Pakistan	p. 146
In Sum	p. 148
Bibliographic Note	p. 149
War and Nature in a Globalized World	p. 155
Findings	p. 156
Big Wars, Small Effects? Small Wars, Big Effects?	p. 156
Firepower and Mobility	p. 158
Refugees and Returnees	p. 161
Conservation by Default	p. 163
Benefits of War, Costs of Peace	p. 166
A Way Forward	p. 168
Perspectives and Standards Matter	p. 168
Continuous Biomonitoring and Rapid Assessment Matter	p. 171
Preparation and Communication Matter	p. 174
Incentives in a Globalized World Matter	p. 177
In Sum: Preventing War, Preserving Nature	p. 182
List of References	p. 187
Index	p. 217
About the Author	p. 233
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