As the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran continues, the human toll is inevitably increasing – as are the environmental consequences.
Last week The Climate Edit looked back at the damage caused by the 1991 Gulf War, which left a toxic legacy in Kuwait after retreating Iraqis damaged countless oil wells.
For this article, John Dennehy has considered the environmental damage resulting from the current conflict.
Poor air quality, oil entering the sea, damage to ecosystems and water shortages are among the many documented or feared effects.
Doug Weir, who directs the UK-based Conflict and Environment Observatory, has identified hundreds of incidents that could have caused environmental harm.
However, actually finding out what has happened is not easy given the internet blackouts in Iran.
Greenpeace Mena has also expressed fears about the environmental impact of the conflict, with Ghiwa Nakat, the organisation’s managing director, saying in a recent press release that it was “devastating lives, communities and the environment at the same time”.
“Across our region, the environmental toll of war is deepening human suffering and threatening the natural systems on which life depends,” she added.
Among Greenpeace Mena’s biggest concerns are that attacks on oil facilities and industrial sites are “releasing toxic smoke and particles that contaminate air, soil, and water”.
Also, an oil spill from one of the dozens of tankers trapped in the area could have a huge impact on marine life.
With Human Rights Watch having said earlier in March that Israel had used white phosphorus munitions in southern Lebanon, Greenpeace has warned that, on top of harming civilians, such weapons damage large areas of soil and vegetation, and leave “toxic residues” in the soil and water.
Indeed war can leave land uninhabitable – a malign effect that continues after the guns, missiles and drones have quietened.
Do heavy rains in March show the UAE's climate is changing?
Storms have been lashing the UAE recently, with Abu Dhabi and Ajman receiving as much rain in a day as they typically get in a full year. As this newsletter is published, more rain is forecast for Friday.
While the rains have not had the devastating effects of the April 2024 deluge, they do highlight how more intense precipitation events appear to be happening in the UAE, a country that sits in a region known for its arid climate.
This article considers, among much else, how there may have been changes in which months are the wettest.
So instead of January and February being when most rain falls, in future the downpours may be happening later in the year.
How mangroves, natural and planted, support an array of wildlife
The UAE has been busy creating new mangrove ecosystems in recent years, with the country having set the aim of planting 100 million mangrove trees by the end of the decade.
But just how environmentally valuable are the habitats that result?
A new study has indicated that they can play host to or support a wide array of organisms, including the dramatic-looking praying mantis.
Separate research in Qatar has recently found that natural mangroves are typically richer in terms of biodiversity, but that may be because of the time taken for the new habitats to be colonised.
Find out more in this article, which includes some great pictures of wildlife living in mangrove ecosystems, and photos of both natural and planted mangroves.
The big fact
93.3mm – the amount of rain recorded by a National Centre of Meteorology gauge at Al Manama in Ajman on March 23.
Jargon buster
Arid: areas that receive little rainfall, defined by the US National Parks Service (NPS) as less than 250mm per year. Semi-arid regions are defined by the NPS as those that receive between 250 and 500mm per year. Almost one-third of all land globally is hyper-arid, arid or semi-arid.
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