Environmental Consequences of War: Impacts on Air, Water, Soil, and Ecosystems

Direct and Indirect Consequences

War affects the environment through explosions, fires, damaged infrastructure, military movement, and disruption of industrial and municipal systems. Direct consequences include fires, craters, vegetation loss, fuel releases, and damage to treatment plants, storage facilities, and industrial installations. They can be linked to a specific event, place, and time, although their full scale may remain unknown until safe access becomes possible. Indirect consequences arise when control systems stop functioning, electricity is unavailable, networks are damaged, monitoring is interrupted, waste accumulates, or land use changes. These effects may be equally significant but often require longer data series and comparison with pre-war conditions.

Impacts on Air Quality

Explosions and fires generate dust, incomplete-combustion products, greenhouse gases, and other pollutants. The emission profile depends on what burned or was destroyed — housing, fuel, polymers, timber, vehicles, equipment, or industrial materials. A short-lived smoke plume can travel far from the incident. Assessment requires weather data, fire duration, affected area, material types, satellite observations, measurements, and a clear account of uncertainty.

Impacts on Surface Water and Groundwater

Damage to water supply, sewerage, treatment plants, tanks, and industrial sites can release pollution into rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and groundwater. Risk depends on the volume released, substance properties, terrain, rainfall, and flow conditions. Water can move contamination beyond the initial site. A single sample near the event is rarely sufficient; monitoring should include upstream and downstream locations, repeated measurements, and where relevant sediment and groundwater observations.

Impacts on Land and Soil

Soil may be affected by debris, fuel, combustion residues, construction waste, and substances released from damaged facilities. Explosions can also disturb soil structure, compact or mix horizons, damage drainage, and increase erosion. Assessment should distinguish physical littering from chemical contamination. It records the area and depth affected, surface type, previous land use, background conditions, and laboratory findings.

Impacts on Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Fires, explosions, noise, mines, fragmentation, and altered water regimes affect habitats. Consequences may include mortality, disrupted migration, loss of breeding sites, and the spread of invasive species. Assessment should consider not only the damaged area but also ecological function: landscape connectivity, rare species, habitat naturalness, recovery potential, and the site's role in regulating water and climate.

Data Needed for a Preliminary Assessment

A basic evidence package includes coordinates, date and time, verified photos or video, a description of the damaged asset, weather conditions, affected area, possible pollution sources, and available pre-war data. Satellite imagery, cadastral information, facility permits, process diagrams, and state monitoring records may also be valuable. A preliminary assessment must separate confirmed facts from assumptions. Access restrictions, unknown material composition, and incomplete evidence should be stated openly, with results presented as ranges rather than falsely precise figures.

From Assessment to Environmental Recovery

Recovery starts with protecting people, controlling immediate sources, and preserving evidence. Priorities then include drinking-water protection, hazardous-waste control, restoration of treatment systems, soil stabilisation, and protection of valuable natural areas. "Build back better" means more than restoring the previous condition. It includes resilient networks, improved treatment, avoidance of highly vulnerable locations, and long-term monitoring.