Hartmann+-+Matrix+-+Post+-+War

War is a complex and serious sustainability problem in ways beyond the direct human health and ecological impacts that are the first ones to come to mind. This includes war’s complex relationship with dimensions such as religion, society, and technology.

First, war has a wide range of ecological impacts that directly and indirectly hurt the environment and sustainability efforts. Direct impacts include the release of chemicals into the environment, deforestation, and damage from explosions (Cairns). For example, during the Gulf War in 1991, Iraq intentionally released [|oil into the Red Sea] and opened wells in the [|Kuwait oil fields] and lit them on fire (Clark). Another example is “[|Agent Orange]”, which was used during the Vietnam War to cause deforestation (Cairns). Indirect impacts of war include the diversion of attention away from problems such as furthering sustainability and protecting the environment. For example, the [|United States spent over $500B on defense] and veteran benefits but only $30B on energy, resources, and the environment in 2007 (Cairns).

Additionally, war tends to change the way land is used, particularly during a civil war. An example of this is the large increase in unproductive land during and after a civil war in the [|Kono District] in eastern [|Sierra Leone] in West Africa. The civil war also resulted in large increases in resource use for rebuilding and new settlement, which would have been significantly less without war (Wilson). This increased use of resources after a war along with the increased use of resources during a war tends to cause resources scarcity. Consequently, a [|positive feedback loop] forms when a new war over the rights for these scarce resources is begun (Cairns).

Related to the changes in land use during and after war are the social and human health impacts of war. Not only are people suffer physically and mentally, but [|refugees] are forced to leave their homes. This is particularly stressful the environment because the areas that the refugees flee to are generally unable to provide the resources necessary to support them. As a result, resources must be transported, which is another sustainability problem (Cairns). Further, the end of a war is never as well defined as governments make it appear; there are often lingering combatants that significantly slow the recovery and stabilization of society [|after a war] (Clark).

Understanding the causes of war is the first step in developing a solution. Most often, war is motivated either by [|conflicts between religions] or by [|resource scarcity], such as land and energy. [|Resource scarcity] itself is a complex cause of war. First, it is caused by a culture that is obsessed with infinite growth (Cairns). Second, as Cairns put it, there is no mutual trust between nations, only mutual suspicion, which results in preventative wars, and tensions that often lead to war.

Cairns Jr, J. (2003). War and sustainability. //International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology//, //10//(3), 185–193.

Clark, G. E. (2008). War and Sustainability: The Economic and Environmental Costs. //Environment//, //50//(1), 3–4.

Wilson, S. A., & Wilson, C. O. (2013). Modelling the impacts of civil war on land use and land cover change within Kono District, Sierra Leone: a socio-geospatial approach. //Geocarto International//, //28//(6), 476–501. doi:10.1080/10106049.2012.724456