Think about this......
Organizing Earth Day, Earth Hour, Earth Charter etc but yet still having never ending wars in various part of the world.....
Reckon and ponder on these facts for a moment......
In a startling result, a new study published by in the journal Conservation Biology found that more than 80 percent of the world's major armed conflicts from 1950-2000 occurred in regions identified as the most biologically diverse and threatened places on Earth.
The study found that more than 90 percent of major armed conflicts – defined as those resulting in more than 1,000 deaths – occurred in countries that contain one of the 34 biodiversity hotspots, while 81 percent took place within specific hotspots. A total of 23 hotspots experienced warfare over the half-century studied.
Source: Conservation International (2009, February 21). Most Wars Occur In Earth's Richest Biological Regions. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/02/090220110910.htm
The military industry's development and testing of weaponry produces an endless stream of hazardous waste. Such activity has contaminated over 11,000 "hot spots" on 1,855 military facilities in the United States, according to the Defense Department's own documents.
A 1993 State Department report identifies landmines and other unexploded ordnance as "the most toxic and widespread pollution facing mankind."
The Gulf War of 1991 resulted in some 65 million barrels of spilled oil, which killed tens of thousands of marine birds in the Persian Gulf and seeped through the desert into sensitive water sources. Meanwhile, in Iraq's cities, bombing devastated sewage and water treatment facilities.
Most significantly, the 600 oil fires set by the Iraqi army burned for up to nine months, releasing millions of tons of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. This pollution caused dark, greasy rains to fall as far as 1,500 miles away.
Source: http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2003/04/23_engler_earth-day.htm
During the most recent warfare in Iraq, individuals were forced to cut down city trees to use as cooking fuel. In Afghanistan, the creation of poorly located, leaky landfill sites resulted in contaminated rivers and groundwater.
Military machinery and explosives have caused unprecedented levels of deforestation and habitat destruction. This has resulted in a serious disruption of ecosystem services, including erosion control, water quality, and food production. A telling example is the destruction of 35% of Cambodia’s intact forests due to two decades of civil conflict. In Vietnam, bombs alone destroyed over 2 million acres of land. These environmental catastrophes are aggravated by the fact that ecological protection and restoration become a low priority during and after war.
The threat to biodiversity from combat can also be illustrated by the Rwanda genocide of 1994. The risk to the already endangered population of mountain gorillas from the violence was of minimal concern to combatants and victims during the 90-day massacre. The threat to the gorillas increased after the war as thousands of refugees, some displaced for decades, returned to the already overpopulated country. Faced with no space to live, they had little option but to inhabit the forest reserves, home to the gorilla population. As a result of this human crisis, conservation attempts were impeded. Currently, the International Gorilla Programme Group is working with authorities to protect the gorillas and their habitats. This has proven to be a challenging task, given the complexities Rwandan leaders face, including security, education, disease, epidemics, and famine.
Source:http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/postings/war-and-environment.html
In my opinion, all these acts and facts are really irony......
I always wish to give this metaphoric example which occurs each day......
In order to kill the tumor and cancer cells in our body, we use chemoradiotherapy frequently, which eventually "toxicfy" our own body cells; imagine cancer cells as enemies that need to get rid of, chemoradiotherapy as weapon used, and wars are the treatment regime, but yet the consequences are mainly faced by all the normal cells in our body, the same as the effect of wars to the civilian and environment,
right???
Why can't we give Earth a break by stopping all the wars???
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