The activities of the US military are one of the biggest sources of environmental pollution in the world, according to a new study by the British Royal Geographical Society.
The study, which examines the impact of the US military climate, the amount of greenhouse gases caused by global warming activities of the US military exceeds the amount produced by 140 countries combined.
The US military consumes large amounts of liquid fuel, which causes more atmospheric gases to emit more than most medium-sized countries, and its fuel consumption alone ranks it among the world's 47 most polluting countries, That is, its ranking would be between Peru and Portugal.
It pointed out that the consumption of this army of fuel amounted to about 26 thousand and 930 barrels of oil per day in 2017, and that the amount of carbon dioxide resulting from the consumption of these amounts of oil estimated at 25 thousand kilo tons, and that purchases by the US Air Force of fuel amounted to 4.9 billion dollars, While the US Navy spent $ 2.8 billion on fuel, followed by the army with $ 947 million, and Marines $ 36 million.
The study, cited in the Newsweek magazine, noted that the omission of US environmental damage to climate change studies was not coincidental, citing the difficulty in obtaining information from the Pentagon and US government departments.
The study said the United States insisted on exempting it from sharing reports on military-source emissions with the Kyoto Protocol stakeholders of 1997, a gap that was later blocked when the United States signed the Paris Climate Agreement, an agreement that the administration of current US President Donald Trump announced that it would withdraw By 2020.
The US military, according to the study, recognizes that it is not immune to the potential impacts of climate change, and that many US military bases are poised to deal with the effects of climate change such as sea level rise. The military is well aware of its contribution to creating the problem and is already investing in developing energy sources Such as biofuels, but that is only a fraction of its fuel expenditure.
| 5399349390001 | e7c78c89-3122-45c9-8abb-c9b6b2f92c37 | 1aa3bbc7-5025-43e6-948b-1328c54698c0 | |
| video |
Contradictory policy
The US Army's climate policy is contradictory. Although it seeks to make some of its operations environmentally friendly by increasing the generation of renewable electricity in its military bases, it remains the world's largest consumer of hydrocarbons.
Climate change has become a major theme in the US presidential campaign for 2020 and a number of prominent Democratic candidates and members of Congress have called for climate initiatives to preserve the environment and reduce global warming.
However, these calls remain ineffective unless a solution is found to the problem of carbon emissions from US military activities in US domestic politics and international climate treaties.
The researchers concluded that large segments of the US military machine must be closed to curb global warming and climate change, and warned of the catastrophic damage caused by war to the environment.
Steps such as reducing the Pentagon's budget and reducing its ability to wage wars would be of great benefit to the environment as it would lead to a significant reduction in US military demand for oil.
The study concluded that the huge money spent to supply the US war machine with fuel would be better used instead to promote peace and fund environmental protection projects.