The hidden cost: When we go to war, the environment suffers too.

Understandably it is the human cost of conflict that is the most immediate and commonly thought of consequence of war. When governments decide to go to war the damage to the environment that will be caused in a peripheral factor, although history teaches that it is one that can often come back to haunt us down the line.

It is just over a decade since the invasion of Afghanistan, a little less since the invasion of Iraq and enough time has now passed that the damage done to the planet by these conflicts can begin to be assessed. Last year the Eisenhower Study Group, based at Rhode Island's prestigious Brown University released the 'Costs of War' report, designed, in part, to do just that.

The report, based mainly on statistics for the US military alone, is not easy reading. 4.6 billion gallons of fuel is used every year by the American Department of Defense, with some military vehicles only averaging one mile to a gallon fuel economy. This alone constitutes a significant greenhouse gas source.

In Afghanistan there has been a 38% loss in forested areas since 1990, mostly due to illegal logging. With the chaos caused by the civil war of the 90s and the invasion of 2001 it has become impossible to regulate the logging industry. The resulting loss of habitats, reduction in soil quality and desertification may never fully be reversed. Deforestation has also been linked to an 85% reduction in migratory birds passing through Afghanistan.

The report also highlights the fur and skin trade in Afghanistan that has flourished since the 2001 invasion.  Driven by soldiers and aid workings buying pelts as souvenirs the already minimal Snow Leopard population has been squeezed even further. While hunting of Snow Leopards is banned they are traditionally viewed as pests by rural communities and, as with logging, it is impossible to enforce the laws preventing their killing.

The report highlights a number of other factors, such as the poisoning of water sources by waste oil, the human health risks associated with the use of depleted uranium in tank shells and even the toxic particles thrown into the air by the burning of waste at military bases. For many it may make surprising reading but in reality it is something we should be aware of by now.

During the Vietnam War the use of the Agent Orange and other herbicides became one of the conflicts most lasting consequences. Over 40 million litres of Agent Orange was dropped on the Vietnamese jungle during the war, with 30 million litres of other similar chemicals adding to the deluge. Used in concentrations many times more potent than used in agriculture, the public health crisis this caused, with generations of Vietnamese children born  disabled, hundreds of thousands estimated killed and American veterans suffering from increased rates of cancer, nerve damage and respiratory illness all due to exposure is one of the most haunting human consequences of the war. However environmentally it was also a catastrophe as Agent Orange did exactly what it was designed to do and destroyed at least 5 million acres of jungle and mangrove forest. Many of these areas are still bare, or have been replaced by invasive alien plant species, in both cases destroying rich and complicated ecosystems.

This then is the hidden cost of war, or rather the cost that gets pushed to one side by the inevitable human tragedy. Not just in Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam but at almost every site of modern conflict nature has been torn apart and often never recovered. Post-conflict this damage is also often overlooked, with efforts to repair the material and emotional damage of warfare taking precedence. There is very little to be done about this, but perhaps it could at least be acknowledged by those who lead us there that the cost of war isn’t just measured in lives and dollars.