War's Hidden Toll: Iran Strikes Generate Five Million Tonnes of Carbon
Key Takeaways
- Russia-Ukraine war has released about 311 million tons CO2e since February 2022.
- Four years of fighting caused substantial environmental and climate damage.
- Calculations quantify war’s climate emissions, revealing hidden costs of conflict.
Climate Cost of Warfare
Researchers produced the first quantified estimate of greenhouse gas emissions from the Iran conflict, concluding it released more than five million tonnes of CO₂e in 14 days.
“Dr Laura-Jane Nolan is a carbon consultant and operations director at BOM Systems”
The emissions were roughly equivalent to 1.1 million cars driven for a year or the entire annual emissions of Edinburgh.
The analysis relied on expenditure-based assumptions, with the US alone spending at least $11.3 billion in the first six days.
Environmental Devastation Beyond Emissions
The war sparked forest and scrub fires across southern Iran.
Air pollution levels spiked to between 5 and 15 times Iranian safe limits.
Iran's energy minister warned the country faced blackouts as worse than last winter.
Reconstruction Will Multiply Emissions
Analysis produced a rapid estimate of around 23 million tonnes of CO₂e for rebuilding destroyed infrastructure.
“Over four years of Russia's war on Ukraine, not only have hundreds of thousands of people been killed and wounded, but the environment and climate have also suffered substantial damage”
This raises the total forecast climate cost beyond the campaign's operational emissions.
War's Environmental Costs in Context
The war emissions initiative estimated Russia's war on Ukraine released 311 million tonnes of CO₂e over four years.
US strikes on Gaza were estimated to release over 210,000 tonnes of CO₂e in the first three days.
Warfare imposes a substantial climate footprint outside traditional cost assessments.
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