The Silent War and Its Impact on Us All

The next war is already here, and it is seeping into our groundwater. While eyes are fixed on maneuver maps, thousands of tons of heavy metals are turning our nature and water reserves into a chemical testing ground, the results of which will accompany us for generations. And it has a name: ECOCIDE.

When an interceptor missile explodes in the sky above a nature reserve, or when an artillery shell penetrates agricultural land, the battle does not end with the blast. It is only just beginning. One of the most fundamental aspects that consistently fails to receive a sufficient attention during times of war is the severe environmental damage and the long-term consequences of violent warfare. While the public and the media rightly focus on human casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, an acute ecological injury is occurring simultaneously. This could leave a deep mark on all of us for decades to come, and sometimes even forever. While military analysts dissect fire intensity, beneath the surface and beyond the shorelines, an event of historic proportions is taking place: ECOCIDE, the destruction of the ecosystem. Missile fire, the use of shells, tanks trampling through open terrain, and deliberate strikes on energy reserves are not merely military actions. They are polluting events that trigger consequences that do not stop at the front line.

The Water Crisis: When Desalination Plants Become Targets

Another critical angle is water security. Globally, and in the Middle East particularly, water is not just a resource; it is survival. The destruction of desalination plants or the contamination of water sources due to bombing or gunfire is an ecological doomsday weapon. According to reports, desalination plants in the Persian Gulf, which provide 70%–90% of the drinking water for countries in the region, are in Iran’s crosshairs; Bahrain has already claimed that Iran hit one of its desalination plants. Such a strike would be devastating, triggering a regional humanitarian and ecological crisis. When a desalination plant is disabled or damaged, the chemicals used for water treatment and concentrated brine leak back into the sea in an uncontrolled manner. The result is the over-salination of the seabed, a phenomenon that smothers entire underwater habitats and eliminates local biodiversity. Studies on damage to coastal infrastructure in conflict zones show that restoring damaged reefs and habitats can take decades, if it happens at all.

Oil Reserves and the Environment

The current war with Iran has provided a chilling glimpse into the region’s ecological future. For example, the attack on oil facilities in Tehran ignited massive flames visible from afar. The thick smoke rising from them did not simply dissipate; it translated into "black rain" that fell on the city and its surroundings, containing a toxic mixture of soot, particles, and pollutants that settled on the ground. Beyond the immediate and severe damage to the air quality residents breathe, such action has a devastating potential for water reserves, soil quality, and the entire ecosystem. This includes the massive release of greenhouse gases like methane, which accelerate the global climate crisis.

Emissions, Sewage, and Infrastructure Collapse

Another aspect of environmental damage often neglected in public discourse is the consequence of displacement. When a fighting front opens, residents of the area instantly become refugees and are forced to abandon their homes. This phenomenon of mass displacement brings enormous environmental challenges. Of course, this is not to cast blame on the refugees themselves. However, decision-makers must recognize that water and sewage infrastructures designed for a specific population collapse when required to serve double the number of people, leading to the contamination of natural resources. A lack of sewage treatment leads to outbreaks of diseases such as cholera and typhus, as documented in World Health Organization reports in similar conflict zones worldwide. War turns the water we drink into a conductor for epidemics. Furthermore, there is fatal damage to agriculture. Agricultural lands abandoned due to fire or trampled by military vehicles lose years of investment and cultivation. Without irrigation and ongoing care, the country’s food security and economic resilience are directly harmed.

Open Areas?

In some cases, missiles fall in areas that are not populated by civilians, usually natural areas, and the ecological impact on them is enormous. Studies examining soil composition in targeted areas in Ukraine found that soil pollution levels were high and considered highly significant. Additionally, the skies, like the earth, are not immune. Israel serves as a global bottleneck for approximately half a billion migrating birds every year, but the war is turning this aerial highway into a death trap. GPS studies on eagles in combat zones in Ukraine show that the effects of war force them to take detours of hundreds of kilometres, depleting their energy reserves because habitats are damaged or destroyed. When birds do not reach their destinations in Europe or Africa, our local war becomes a multi-continental biological crisis.

Will the World Recognize ECOCIDE?

The international community is beginning to wake up, but too slowly. The concept of ECOCIDE, defined as the destruction of the natural environment by deliberate or negligent human action, is currently at the center of a legal struggle to make it a fifth crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

In the End, Scorched Earth Remains

Ultimately, we must remember that the environment has no sovereign borders. Air pollution in one country due to war raises pollution levels in neighboring countries, as seen in past wars, such as in the Balkans. If water sources or marine systems are damaged, the harm spreads throughout the region without distinction of religion or nationality. When birds cannot reach their migration destinations, it is a global crisis. Protecting the environment must be a shared regional interest, just as restoration on the "day after" must include an ecological component. Despite the severity of the situation, international law currently does not provide sufficient protection for the environment during conflict. The environment has no regulated status in ceasefire talks, peace agreements, or rehabilitation plans for war-torn areas. There is an urgent need to establish rigid protection mechanisms for natural resources within the international system and to recognize that environmental restoration is a necessary condition for long-term political and social stability. The environment cannot continue to be the transparent victim of war. If we do not include ecological restoration as a mandatory clause in every ceasefire agreement, we will find ourselves with peace on paper, but with land that cannot nourish us and water that cannot be drunk. On the day after, the weapons will not be our problem, but rather the poison that remains inside our home.