Wars are often measured by death tolls, displaced populations, and flattened neighborhoods. But there are other deadly consequences that are frequently overlooked: war-induced pollution can blanket cities, contaminate water and soil, and shape public health long after the fighting ends. The case of the Iran war is a stark example.
Six weeks of bombing Iran and the Gulf, targeting energy infrastructure, caused severe damage. Burning fuel tanks released toxic particulates into the air, while debris, waste, and oil residue threatened coastal waters and marine ecosystems across the Gulf, where pollution can spread far beyond the directly attacked area.
The region has seen such damage persist before. During the 1991 Gulf War, retreating Iraqi forces set fire to over 600 Kuwaiti oil wells. For months, thick smoke darkened skies, causing widespread air, soil, and groundwater pollution across the Gulf. The United Nations later treated much of that devastation as compensable damage. Through the UN Compensation Commission, Iraq ultimately paid over $50 billion for damages linked to oil fires, marine pollution, and ecosystem loss.
Ukraine is another harrowing example. The current conflict has created a toxic legacy: attacks on fuel depots, industrial zones, chemical warehouses, and energy infrastructure pollute air, rivers, and agricultural land across vast parts of the country. UN agencies and Ukrainian organizations have documented thousands of environmental harm incidents since the war began, including oil facility fires, deforestation, pollution from damaged industrial sites, and risks to water systems.
Fossil fuel systems are especially vulnerable in war because they concentrate flammable fuel and hazardous chemicals. When oil depots, refineries, or pipelines are attacked, they ignite, releasing toxic gases, carcinogenic particulates, and residue that contaminates surrounding soil and water for years. Conflict also weakens monitoring capacity, leading to collapsed environmental regulations and corporate accountability, leaving communities living in the shadow of fossil fuel infrastructure to absorb pollution and health risks long after the news cycle moves on.
Climate change exacerbates these harms. National militaries were responsible for about 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2022, primarily from burning fossil fuels. Yet military emissions are not fully included in international climate reports. As military spending surges worldwide, this largely uncounted carbon footprint grows as well.
Conflict also drives environmental damage beyond energy systems. When electricity is cut and fuel is scarce, households often turn to charcoal and firewood, accelerating deforestation in vulnerable areas. Sudan has witnessed this dynamic around Khartoum and other urban centers, with significant tree canopy loss since war began in 2023. War also creates hazards beyond fossil fuels. Bombing crushes buildings, roads, and industrial zones, releasing dust laden with silica, heavy metals, and other toxins into the air, scarring lungs and worsening chronic respiratory diseases. Rebuilding destroyed cities further burdens the climate, as cement and steel production are among the world's most carbon-intensive industrial processes.
Renewable energy systems can also be damaged in conflict, but their environmental footprint is fundamentally different. A destroyed solar array does not spill crude oil into rivers, and a damaged wind turbine does not cause refinery-scale fires or release toxic benzene into nearby neighborhoods. This matters as countries rebuild. Energy systems rebuilt around oil depots, gas transport, and centralized fuel infrastructure remain vulnerable to pollution and global price shocks whenever conflict threatens key supply lines. More distributed renewable grids cannot eliminate the risks of war, but they can mitigate both the toxic aftermath and the ensuing global economic shocks.
