effects of war on humans and the environment

War not only affects humans; it also affects the environment. Many conflicts occur in highly populated, poorer countries. These areas often are also already suffering from harsh environmental damage and poverty. From the preparations of war to the actual fight the environment is being used as a punching bag. The sad part about all the destruction is that many armies show little to no consideration towards the mess they are creating. The damage mainly impacts wildlife and human populations, because most of the fighting takes place in the mountains, rivers and forests, where there are higher concentrations of wildlife. In a lot of the situations many of these animals will soon become endangered. The consequences of war not only affect the people but the place they live as well. Many of the environmental damages are also irreversible and can last for hundreds to thousands of years causing crops to fail and disabilities to humans and animals. Many of the weapons used nowadays have been around (in some form) since the mid-early 1900's but others have been introduced in the later 1900's. Stockpiles of chemical weapons, landmines and biological weapons have been banned, but there hasn't been any form of follow through searches since these agreements have been made. Another loophole in the banning of such stockpiles is that in order for the ban to take affect, the country has to sign the agreement. Many of these agreements were also signed in the 1990's, long after these weapons have either been detonated or hid. Besides competition for land causing controversy another cause is oil and water, which also lead to wars over them. This then funnels down into the production of weapons, and national debts continually rising; one big cause and effect circle. As if the environmental damage isn't enough, there are vast sums of money being spent on the production of weapons and war. This is money that can be spent on bigger world issues such as education, poverty and the pre-existing environmental problems.
In World War I approximately 19 million gallons of Agent Orange were used by the US military in the 9 years between 1962 and 1972. It was used to defoliate the trees to allow US troops to spot the communist troops more easily. It not only destroyed about 15% of South Vietnams vegetation but also lead to serious health problems for soldiers, civilians and animals, the side effects are still being felt today. A similar situation is also occurring in China due to the vast amounts of chemical weapons used by the Japanese Army. Biological weapons are more unique because with many of them it is impossible to reverse their effect once its been released. They are also the easiest and cheapest to produce plus they can affect humans, animals and the environment. It is estimated that there are between 60 and 110 million landmines in the ground worldwide and over 26,000 people are injured or killed annually by landmines while even a bigger number of wild animals are killed. The effects of landmines is also one that is felt years after the wars are over, due to the deforestation, water pollution, soil erosion, declining biodiversity and human casualties inflicted every time a landmine is set off. Currently the US, Russia, Great Britain, France, China, India, Israel and Pakistan posses nuclear weapons, while Iran and North Korea are gathering the needed technology to build them. How is it possible that this many countries are in possession of these weapons, when they all know the potential damage that can be caused by them? Do they know and not care or are these nuclear weapons insurance for future predicaments? Nuclear waste is also a problem because old nuclear weapons haven't been properly stored and have been left to deteriorate and are leaching out radioactive materials. Humans have always counted war casualties as only being in the form of dead and wounded soldiers and civilians or destroyed cities; the environment has always gotten a backseat to them and has gone unpublicised and unnoticed. This is the time when the world has to notice it and how much it matters. This circle of destruction needs to end before the current situation becomes any worse to both humans and their environment.