Earth’s average temperature rose more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in 2024 for the first time – a critical threshold in the climate crisis. At the same time, major armed conflicts continue to rage in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere.
What should be increasingly clear is that war now needs to be understood as unfolding in the shadow of climate breakdown.
The relationship between war and climate change is complex. But here are three reasons why the climate crisis must reshape how we think about war.
- War exacerbates climate change
The inherent destructiveness of war has long degraded the environment. But we have only recently become more keenly aware of its climatic implications.
This follows efforts primarily by researchers and civil society organisations to account for the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from fighting, most notably in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as to record emissions from all military operations and post-war reconstruction.
One study, conducted by Scientists for Global Responsibility and the Conflict and Environment Observatory, has made a best guess that the total carbon footprint of militaries across the globe is greater than that of Russia, which currently has the fourth-largest footprint in the world.
The US is believed to have the highest military emissions. Estimates by UK-based researchers Benjamin Neimark, Oliver Belcher and Patrick Bigger suggest that, if it were a country, the US military would be the 47th-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. This would put it between Peru and Portugal.
These studies, though, rest on limited data. Sometimes partial emissions data is reported by military agencies, and researchers have to supplement this with their own calculations using official government figures and those of associated industries.
There is also significant variation from country to country. Some military emissions, most notably those of China and Russia, have proved almost impossible to assess.
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For the full article by Dr Duncan Depledge visit the Conversation.
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Notes for editors
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