Drought in Afghanistan

Drought and conflict have been devastating for Afghanistan’s drinking water. Access to safe water has been limited even before US-led bombing commenced in October 2001. The lack of safe drinking water also makes diarrhea and dysentery more of a threat. Disease outbreaks were not met with the traditional means of community education on hygiene and communication campaigns since the Taliban dismantled those women-led structures. By the time the campaign on Afghanistan was underway in 2001, the country had been experiencing its worst drought in 30 years. Well drilling and water delivery have been undertaken by foreign NGOs to help make safe water available. The areas of Maywand and Khakrez have particularly been impacted by these problems. They traditionally rely on water from underground water sources or shallow water wells, but these sources have been damaged and truncated. Irrigation for food production has also been more difficult to obtain and as a result food production has suffered. Severe food shortages now face the country and Oxfam says 5 million could experience extreme food shortages and possible starvation. Delivery of aid and water relief has been complicated as infrastructure and supply routes are under continued attack. While the focus on Afghanistan policy has been on the insurgency and political security, food security has been getting little attention. A humanitarian crisis looms for Afganistan. Can the US escalate its battle against continued suffering and public health crises in Afghanistan? Will the focus on the troubles of Afghanistan incorporate the pressing need for action to remove the circumstances that make starvation and disease too real of a threat for millions in Afghanistan?

Deforestation, endangered species, land mines

sorry, i'm a little late with this...

This article talks about the effects of years and years of war in Afghanistan, especially the civil war. It touches on a few things already mentioned by Slavi and Evelyn, in regards to deforestation and land mines, but offers some other facts as well.

here is the link: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2002/03/afghanistans-environmental-casualties

their natural resources are depleting as a result of being over used to make war weapons, but also in order to survive financially in war times. one resource especially over used has been the forests. the lumber industry has been one of few money-making industries because wood is need to create and fuel the building of war infrastructure. much of this wood is smuggled out of the country by a timber mafia. the lack of trees leaves the earth exposed, and as the top soil erodes, the land is made unusable for agriculture.

a lot of this land is filled with left over land mines from the civil war, an estimated 10 million! that kill or injure 3 people per day!

a drought has caused even more fighting over water access of rivers and canals. also, the animal biodiversity of Afghanistan is suffering signifcantly. There are lots of problems with poaching and hunting endangered species for food and profit on the black market.

the devastation that Afghanistan has sufferd because of conflict and war is unbelievable, and there is no sign of things turning around. the land, air, and water is constantly degrading and becoming unusable, and creating an unlivable environment for humans to live.

Virtually no forests!

I was truly amazed to find out that Afghanistan has practically no forests, what so ever. Afghanistan had, apparently, only 3% of its territory covered with forests in 1980, which has dropped to less than 0,5% by now. That is a very serious side-effect of the wars, but then again one could argue that they barely had any forests in the first place. Nevertheless, there are entire regions where forest-wood is used as firewood for heating and cooking, so it is a necessity. It seems as if it is a big problem, but one never really hears about that. The soil is as well very much affected by trees, so I would assume that the soil from the deforested areas is getting worse every year. According to the CIA Factbook soil degradation is a big problem in Afghanistan, with deforestation for fuel and building materials…

Here are the links of the sources:
http://www.lenntech.com/environmental-effects-war.htm#Asia
http://www.igreens.org.uk/afghanistans_forests.htm

Landmines In Afhgnistan Threaten the Environment

This article is about the impact of land mines on the environment and the people of Afghanistan. According to this article:

http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSISL43003

"Up to a 150,000 people have been killed or wounded by landmines or explosive remnants since 1989. On average, 45 to 50 people are killed or wounded by landmines in Afghanistan every month, compared to 150, three years ago."

This definitely shows the connection between human needs and the environment. Not only are the land mines bad for the people, they are also devastating for the environment, which (as we can see in all the other articles) is already suffering.

This link gives a more in depth account of the environmental impacts of land mines in globally (such as how they pollute water and the soil).

Here is a Link to an article about the impacts of the decades long wars that have devastated Afghanistan. Like most places that have undergone war for such a lengthy time period, the countryside here has been severely degraded. The article has one particularly striking image on the right hand side showing a boy walking through the disgustingly dirty and polluted river. Just as in Iraq there are problems with people stealing, smuggling and taking advantage of the unlawfulness.

It is reasonable to expect some sort of environmental protection during times of war? Would there be a difference between a war in or between developing countries and one with more developed countries where environmental protection may be a bigger issue and priority?

Shock and Awe

‘Modern warfare damages ecosystems’

Modern Warfare Causes Unprecedented environmental Damage

These articles talk about some of the environmental impacts of using shock and awe tactics like the U.S. has in Iraq. Not only do they appear to be not very effective, but the consequences of blanketing an area with potent munitions appear quite large. 

Shock & Awe

Article

This article goes over some of the ways the U.S. could halved helped the environment in preventing global warming if it invested as much in the environment as it did in war.

US spending on the Iraq war could cover all of the global investments in renewable power generation that are needed between now and 2030 in order to halt current warming trends.

2. 141 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions since March 2003 and still counting…
• CO2 released by the war to date equals the emissions from putting 25 million more cars on the road in the US this year. These stem from fuel-intensive combat, oil well fires and
increased gas flaring, the boom in cement consumption due to reconstruction efforts and security needs, and heavy use of explosives and chemicals that contribute to global warming.
• If the war was ranked as a country in terms of emissions, it would emit more CO2 each year than 139 of the world’s nations do annually. Falling between New Zealand and Cuba, the war each year emits more than 60% of all countries.
• Emissions from the Iraq War to date are nearly two and a half times greater than what would be avoided between 2009 and 2016 were California to implement the auto emission regulations it has proposed, but that the Bush Administration has struck down.

I thought that this was pretty interesting. I had never stopped to think about how else the U.S. could have been spending money and the affects that it could have on the rest of the world.