215
Ferguson (2006) states that ethnic conflicts
arise related frequently to economic volatility,
meaning not necessarily the periods of economic
crisis but rapid economic changes. Economic
volatilities could sharpen social opposition and
involves frequently discriminative redistribution.
This could be the result of rapid economic growth
as well.
Local wars with smaller number of victims are
started frequently for occupying natural values.
According to Renner (2005), 5 million people
were killed in the 1990s in fights for natural
resources and another 6 million people escaped
into neighbouring countries. The history of crude
oil is especially rich in armed conflicts. The international armed intervention known as Gulf War
killed around 20% of the Iraqi armed forces
(110,000 soldiers) that occupied Kuwait in 1991,
and 40,000 civil people were killed as well.
Wars broke out for many reasons but certain
groups of people hating other, “alien” or “menial”
groups of people or the lack of tolerance to
groups of people with different culture can be
observed in almost all cases. Conflicts induced
by religious differences are also frequent in
which terrorist groups fight against the West or
each other with “new” methods (terrorist attacks,
suicide attacks). The terrorist group called
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been
fighting its own war for years using a real army
and heavy-duty equipment.
In recent years conflicts causing tension among
groups of people due to some kind of an environmental problem have been expanding. One of
these problems is limited access to fresh water in
dry or semi-dry areas (using the water of Jordan
River—Israel, Jordan, Syria; distribution of the
water of the Nile—Egypt, Sudan). Grudge against
developed industrial countries among inhabitants
of coral islands due to sea level rise is in an initial
state. The former problem is local but the latter
one is an opposition developed due to a global
process that will only intensify in the future and
may extend over to major cities along coasts.
Wars cause damage to the society not only by
killing and wounding people, but also by the
destruction and pollution of both the built and the
natural environment. A couple examples are
mentioned in the followings only to illustrate the
diversity of destruction. Immeasurable damage
was caused in the environment by the mechanised fighting in the twentieth century completed
with chemical and nuclear weapons. Carpet
bombing in World War II levelled major cities
(several thousand national monuments in them)
while tens of thousands civil residents were
killed. The two nuclear bombs caused the complete demolition of two major cities (Hiroshima
and Nagasaki) while radioactive radiation caused
diseases for years after the war.
Nuclear arsenal accumulated following World
War II is potentially suitable for destroying the
entire humanity: set aside the direct effects of
explosions, a nuclear war could cause rapid and
global changes in the climate (nuclear winter)
while the fall-out of radioactive particles across
the globe would increase environmental radiation
effects. Besides humans, higher animals are also
sensitive to radioactive radiation (Fig. 5.5), i.e.
natural wildlife would also suffer from a nuclear
war so that the most developed life would perish
in greatest ratio, including the human race.
Although the number of nuclear warheads
decreased significantly as a result of nuclear testban treaties compared to the 1950s, the accuracy
of delivery devices and the number of countries
having nuclear weapons increased thus the threat
of a nuclear war have not disappeared. Many
experts agree in that mutual threatening holds
back all concerned from using nuclear weapons
but human nature is not so predictable therefore
absolute safety does not exist.
Using chemicals (war gases) was experienced
already in World War I. Due to their horrible consequences subsequent international conventions
prohibited using chemicals in military actions. It
has to be noted, however, that the US army used
defoliants in rainforests during the Vietnam War
to expose the enemy in the rainforest and causing
enormous ecological loss as well.
In the course of the Gulf War in 1991 the Iraqi
army flooded the Persian Gulf with several hundred thousand tonnes of crude oil and then set
more than half of the oil wells in Kuwait (500
5.4 Wars, Destroying the Society and the Natural Environment
Ferguson (2006) states that ethnic conflicts
arise related frequently to economic volatility,
meaning not necessarily the periods of economic
crisis but rapid economic changes. Economic
volatilities could sharpen social opposition and
involves frequently discriminative redistribution.
This could be the result of rapid economic growth
as well.
Local wars with smaller number of victims are
started frequently for occupying natural values.
According to Renner (2005), 5 million people
were killed in the 1990s in fights for natural
resources and another 6 million people escaped
into neighbouring countries. The history of crude
oil is especially rich in armed conflicts. The international armed intervention known as Gulf War
killed around 20% of the Iraqi armed forces
(110,000 soldiers) that occupied Kuwait in 1991,
and 40,000 civil people were killed as well.
Wars broke out for many reasons but certain
groups of people hating other, “alien” or “menial”
groups of people or the lack of tolerance to
groups of people with different culture can be
observed in almost all cases. Conflicts induced
by religious differences are also frequent in
which terrorist groups fight against the West or
each other with “new” methods (terrorist attacks,
suicide attacks). The terrorist group called
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been
fighting its own war for years using a real army
and heavy-duty equipment.
In recent years conflicts causing tension among
groups of people due to some kind of an environmental problem have been expanding. One of
these problems is limited access to fresh water in
dry or semi-dry areas (using the water of Jordan
River—Israel, Jordan, Syria; distribution of the
water of the Nile—Egypt, Sudan). Grudge against
developed industrial countries among inhabitants
of coral islands due to sea level rise is in an initial
state. The former problem is local but the latter
one is an opposition developed due to a global
process that will only intensify in the future and
may extend over to major cities along coasts.
Wars cause damage to the society not only by
killing and wounding people, but also by the
destruction and pollution of both the built and the
natural environment. A couple examples are
mentioned in the followings only to illustrate the
diversity of destruction. Immeasurable damage
was caused in the environment by the mechanised fighting in the twentieth century completed
with chemical and nuclear weapons. Carpet
bombing in World War II levelled major cities
(several thousand national monuments in them)
while tens of thousands civil residents were
killed. The two nuclear bombs caused the complete demolition of two major cities (Hiroshima
and Nagasaki) while radioactive radiation caused
diseases for years after the war.
Nuclear arsenal accumulated following World
War II is potentially suitable for destroying the
entire humanity: set aside the direct effects of
explosions, a nuclear war could cause rapid and
global changes in the climate (nuclear winter)
while the fall-out of radioactive particles across
the globe would increase environmental radiation
effects. Besides humans, higher animals are also
sensitive to radioactive radiation (Fig. 5.5), i.e.
natural wildlife would also suffer from a nuclear
war so that the most developed life would perish
in greatest ratio, including the human race.
Although the number of nuclear warheads
decreased significantly as a result of nuclear testban treaties compared to the 1950s, the accuracy
of delivery devices and the number of countries
having nuclear weapons increased thus the threat
of a nuclear war have not disappeared. Many
experts agree in that mutual threatening holds
back all concerned from using nuclear weapons
but human nature is not so predictable therefore
absolute safety does not exist.
Using chemicals (war gases) was experienced
already in World War I. Due to their horrible consequences subsequent international conventions
prohibited using chemicals in military actions. It
has to be noted, however, that the US army used
defoliants in rainforests during the Vietnam War
to expose the enemy in the rainforest and causing
enormous ecological loss as well.
In the course of the Gulf War in 1991 the Iraqi
army flooded the Persian Gulf with several hundred thousand tonnes of crude oil and then set
more than half of the oil wells in Kuwait (500
5.4 Wars, Destroying the Society and the Natural Environment