[CPEO-MEF] CLIMATE, MUNITIONS: "Climate Crisis Exacerbates Military Legacy Contamination"

[Lenny Siegel <LSiegel@cpeo.org>]

Climate Crisis Exacerbates Military Legacy Contamination

By Wim Zwijnenburg
New Security Beat
September 21, 2021 

This summer, climate-induced heat waves ignited landmines and unexploded ordnance buried in the soils around the Middle East, killing people and causing wildfires.  Warmer waters are speeding up erosion of sunken battleships laden with degrading munitions. A melting ice sheet on Greenland has exposed thousands of barrels of toxic waste at abandoned U.S. military bases.  

Remains of War

This is what happens when a ghost from the past comes back to haunt us. The hazardous remnants of war are re-emerging. They include unexploded ordnance (UXO) and other vestiges of war. These military hazards that climate change can “wake up” or expose include landmines, ammunition, toxic waste, chemical weapons, and nuclear materials. Many types of unexploded ordnance in the ground and seas are the legacy of more than 120 years of wars and armed conflicts. Sunken battleships and military freighters from both world wars and regional conflicts rust away on the bottom of the ocean. Decades of wars have created explosive and toxic legacies in our seas and soils that threaten lives and ecosystems.

Effects of Climate Change

Mixing the remains of war with climate change is a recipe for disaster. Degrading munitions left in the soil or water can become unstable over time as the chemicals change, influenced by environmental conditions. Millions of unexploded munitions and mines in the soil degrade more rapidly in the heat, which can result in uncontrolled explosions.

…

For the entire blog, see
https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2021/09/climate-crisis-exacerbates-military-legacy-contamination/

—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)

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