Warfare in a Fragile World: Military Impact on the Human Environment
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Recent Slprt•• books World Armaments and Disarmament: SIPRI Yearbook 1979 World Armaments and Disarmament: SIPRI Yearbooks 1968-1979, Cumulative Index Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Weapon Proliferation Other related •• 8lprt books Ecological Consequences of the Second Ihdochina War Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Environment Publish~d on behalf of SIPRI by Taylor & Francis Ltd 10-14 Macklin Street London WC2B 5NF Distributed in the USA by Crane, Russak & Company Inc 3 East 44th Street New York NY 10017 USA and in Scandinavia by Almqvist & WikseH International PO Box 62 S-101 20 Stockholm Sweden For a complete list of SIPRI publications write to SIPRI Sveavagen 166 , S-113 46 Stockholm Sweden Stoekholol International Peace Research Institute Warfare in a Fragile World Military Impact onthe Human Environment Stockholm International Peace Research Institute SIPRI is an independent institute for research into problems of peace and conflict, especially those of disarmament and arms regulation. It was established in 1966 to commemorate Sweden's 150 years of unbroken peace. The Institute is financed by the Swedish Parliament. The staff, the Governing Board and the Scientific Council are international. As a consultative body, the Scientific Council is not responsible for the views expressed in the publications of the Institute. Governing Board Dr Rolf Bjornerstedt, Chairman (Sweden) Professor Robert Neild, Vice-Chairman (United Kingdom) Mr Tim Greve (Norway) Academician Ivan M£ilek (Czechoslovakia) Professor Leo Mates (Yugoslavia) Professor Gunnar Myrdal (Sweden) Professor Bert Roling (Netherlands) The Director Director Dr Frank Barnaby (United Kingdom) • • ~! Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Sveavagen 166, S-I13 46 Stockholm, Sweden Cable: Peaceresearch, Stockholm Telephone: 08-15 09 40 Warfare in a Fragile World Military Impact on the Human Environment Stockholm International Peace Research Institute r--- ~•.0pt: Taylor & Frands Ltd London 1980 First published 1980 by Taylor & Frands Ltd 10-14 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NF Copyright © 1980 by SIPRI Sveav1igen 166, S-I13 46 Stockholm All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Distributed in the United States of America by Crane, Russak & Company, Inc. 3 East 44th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017 and in Scandinavia by Almqvist & Wiksell International 26 Gamla Brogatan S-101 20 Stockholm, Sweden British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Warfare in a fragile world. 1. War-Environmental aspects 1. Title n. Westing, Arthur H 574.5'222 QH545.W26 ISBN 0-85066-187-0 Typeset by Georgia Origination, Liverpool Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by Taylor & Frauds (Printers) Ltd., Rankine Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG24 OPR Preface The military impact on the human environment is a problem of increasing importance. The present study examines how and to what extent warfare damages the environment. It is the third in a series of SIPRI studies relating to the impact of warfare on the environment. The first two, Ecological Consequences of the Second Indochina War (1976) and Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Environment (1977), examined particular weapons and techniques of war and their ability to disrupt the environment. The present study examines the several major global environments and their vulnerability to military disruption. A number of multilateral treaties are relevant to the prevention of environmental damage by war. Among those already in force are the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963, the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, the World Heritage Convention of 1972, the Environmental Modification Convention of 1977, and the two Geneva Protoc01s of 1977 additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. I hope that this series of studies will contribute to discussion on this issue. This book was written by Dr Arthur H. Westing while he was a senior research fellow at SIPRI. He is now Professor of Ecology and Dean of the School of Natural Science at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. July 1979 Frank Barnaby Director Acknowledgement The author is pleased to acknowledge Rajesh Kumar for editing the manuscript. v Contents Conventions and units of measure xiii Chapter 1. The human environment............... 1 1. Introduction . 1 11. Warfare and weaponry................................................... 2 Ill. The Earth and its habitats.. 5 IV. Use and abuse of the Earth 10 V. Conclusion 13 Appendix 1.1. The major wars of the twentieth century. 30 Appendix 1.2. Comparisons of World War 11, the Korean War, and the Second Indochina War as they apply to the USA. .. 34 Appendix 1.3. Fatalities in World War 11, the Korean War, and the Second Indochina War: an approximation 35 Appendix 1.4. The world's de facto nations (as of 1977) 38 Appendix 1.5. Selected possessions and other territories (as of 1977) 42 Chapter 2. Temperate regions 44 L Introduction ...... .. ........ .... .. .. ..... 44 1I. Environment and ecology 44 Ill. Use 46 Civil - Military IV. Abuse 48 Civil-Military V. Conclusion .............................. ...... ........ ......... ......... 63 Appendix 2.1. Sources for the temperate habitat......... ...... 67 Appendix 2.2. Sources for the impact of World Wars I and II on forest lands.......... .. .. ... 68 Appendix 2.3. Sources for the impact of warfare on man............... 69 Appendix 2.4. Sources for the recovery of temperate biota from devastation 70 Chapter 3. Tropical regions 71 1. Introduction 71 1I. Environment and ecology............... 71 Ill. Use 73 Civil- Military VII IV. Abuse . .. .. .. .. 76 Civil - Military V. Conclusion ,... 99 Appendix 3.1. Sources for the tropical habitat........................... 103 Chapter 4. Desert regions 104 I. Introduction 104 11. Environment and ecology................................................ 104 Ill. Use 106 Civil- Military IV. Abuse 108 Civil - Military V. Conclusion ......... ... .. ................ .. ....... .. .. .. ............ 111 Appendix 4.1. Sources for the desert habitat no 113 Chapter 5. Arctic regions 114 I. Introduction 114 Il. Environment and ecology.............................. 114 Ill. Use 117 Civil - Military IV. Abuse 119 Civil - Military V. Conclusion 124 Appendix 5.1. Sources for the arctic habitat 127 Chapter 6. Islands 128 I. Introduction 128 11. Environment and ecology................................................ 128 Ill. Use 129 Civil - Military IV. Abuse 132 Civil Military V. Conclusion 139 Appendix 6.1. Sources for the island habitat... 143 VIII Chapter 7. The ocean 144 I. Introduction 144 Il. Environment and ecology....................................... 144 Ill. Use 148 Civil - Military IV. Abuse 151 Civil Military V. Conclusion 170 Appendix 7.1. Sources for the ocean habitat 178 Appendix 7.2. Ship numbers and sizes 179 Appendix 7.3. Nuclear bomb characteristics...... 180 Appendix 7.4. Reactor characteristics of nuclear-powered naval vessels ... .. .. ....... .. ........ .. ... 182 Chapter 8. The global ecology 183 I. Introduction .. ................... .......... .. 183 Il. Natural resources 183 Raw materials - Man Ill. Man and nature 187 IV. Legal restraints on environmental disruption 189 V. Conclusion :. .. .. .. .... ...... ... .. .. .. 192 Appendix 8.1. Sources for the relationship between natural resources and military activities... 203 Appendix 8.2. Sources for nature conservation 204 Appendix 8.3. Sources for arms control as it applies to the environ- ment 205 References 207 Index 242 IX Tables Chapter 1. The human environment Tables 1.1. Frequency of the major wars of the twentieth century 14 1.2. Ecologically disruptive wars: a selection........................... 14 1.3. Global surface area 20 1.4. Terrestrial land masses and habitats: areas and demography (1975 data) 20 1.5. Global biomass and productivity............................... 21 1.6. Terrestrial land masses and habitats: major vegetation types 22 1.7. Terrestrial habitats: plant biomass and productivity 23 1.8. Major terrestrial vegetation types: plant biomass and productivity . 23 1.9. Distribution of the major urban centres of the world (1975 data) 24 1.10. Distribution of the nations of the world (1975 data) 25 1.11. Distribution of national wealth and land resources (1975 data) 26 1.12. Distribution of the national armies of the world (1975 data) 27 1.13. Distribution of the armed forces of the world (1975 data) 28 1.14. Distribution of the major wars of the twentieth century......... 29 Chapter 2. Temperate regions Tables 2.1. Temperate habitat: distribution and demography (1975 data) 64 2.2. A group of nations involved in World War II: geographic profile 65 2.3. Impact of and recovery from World War II 65 Chapter 3. Tropical regions Tables 3.1. Tropical habitat: distribution and demography (1975 data) ... 100 3.2. Hostile action by the USA during the Second Indochina War: regional intensities 100 3.3. Herbicidal crop destruction from the air by the USA during the Second Indochina War 101 x 3.4. Numbers of unexploded bombs and shells remaining from the Second Indochina War: an estimate 101 Chapter 4. Desert regions Tables 4.1. Desert habitat: distribution and demography (1975 data) 112 4.2. Above-ground nuclear test explosions in the desert habitat 112 Chapter 5. Arctic regions Table 5.1. Arctic