The war in Ukraine is unleashing an ecological disaster.
The close call at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant this week was just the latest reminder that any war in our time brings serious environmental health threats along with countless human tragedies and widespread physical destruction.
That’s because in modern societies we have many industrial facilities, infrastructure and waste facilities filled with synthetic chemicals, nuclear materials and biohazards that present serious threats to living organisms once they escape into the environment.
Even vehicles and consumer goods release dangerous fumes when burned.
Wars, of course, involve powerful missiles and bombs that cause explosions that propel dangerous residues far and wide. And while we are all rightfully scared of the long-lasting threat of nuclear pollutants in particular, there are far more buildings and items with other kinds of toxic materials at risk of exploding as the Ukraine war continues.
If an environmental impact report were required before an army destroyed modern buildings in war, the missiles and bombs would never be allowed to be fired in the first place. Any modern war is not only a war against one country but against the entire planet.
And since there are few rules in war, widespread environmental destruction is simply one more piece of collateral damage, albeit one rarely mentioned.
If and when this horrible war in Ukraine ends, a massive environmental cleanup will be one of complicated tasks required. Plus there will be many long-term health impacts. As we have seen from the veterans returning from other conflicts here in the U.S., many terrible diseases including cancers are also costs of the conflict.
Not to mention the mental health toll on everyone involved.
Though rarely discussed, pollution aka climate change is a huge reason that war is no longer a rational option anywhere on earth. And of course, it never was.
TODAY’s STORIES (72):
Evacuations halted as Ukraine accuses Russia of continued shelling (CBS)
'Welcome to Hell': Evacuation in Ukraine halted; Putin warns about no-fly zone; Worries grow about attacks on nuclear plants. (USA Today)
Russia shelled the Zaporizhzhia plant in the city of Enerhodar, Ukraine, igniting a fire that was extinguished, and then taking control of the site. Ukraine's nuclear regulator said no changes in radiation levels have been recorded so far. Nuclear authorities were worried but not panicked about the damage. The assault, however, led to phone calls between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders. [AP]
Russian Troops Move Into Nuclear Power Plant (WSJ)
The Ukrainian nuclear operator says management at the seized plant is "working at gunpoint" (CNN)
The seizure of the Zaporizhzhia plant has heightened fears about lack of access to radiation data and the potential for a nuclear accident, atomic experts said, although they stressed there did not appear to be any immediate risks. (Reuters)
Russia-Ukraine war latest news: ‘world narrowly averted nuclear catastrophe’ over Zaporizhzhia fire, says US envoy to UN (Guardian)
Russia condemned across world for ‘reckless’ nuclear plant attack (Financial Times)
Direct attacks and a destroyed bridge have slowed Russian convoy advance on Kyiv, US defense official says (CNN)
Washington’s Newest Worry: The Dangers of Cornering Putin (NYT)
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine leaves global trade in tatters (AP)
Russia Blocks Facebook (WSJ)
Russia bans Twitter (Guardian)
Peace in Ukraine depends on the international community achieving something it has been unable to do for years: changing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mind. One week into the war, Western officials are extremely pessimistic about the chances of the Russian leader choosing to stop fighting and pursue diplomacy, Akbar Shahid Ahmed writes. [HuffPost]
Outcry after US senator Lindsey Graham suggests Putin’s assassination (Guardian)
Lindsey Graham’s Putin Death Sentence Is the Dumbest Take of the War (Politico)
Russian propaganda ‘outgunned’ by social media rebuttals (AP)
Kremlin Vows Victory in Ukraine as Refugees Swell to One Million (NYT)
Blinken meets NATO allies in Brussels as Russian troops continue their offensive in Ukraine (WP)
The Ukraine ‘rat line’: How the U.S. and British are funneling weapons to kill Russians (Politico)
Russia's version of Google warns it may not be able to pay its debts (CNN)
On the Exodus West, Ukrainians Flee Hardship for an Uncertain Future (NYT)
Russia's communications watchdog has restricted access to several foreign news organizations' websites including the BBC and Deutsche Welle for spreading what it cast as false information. (Reuters)
Putin misjudged his adversary and squandered his military advantages (WP)
The battle for Ukraine could test the limits of closer ties between China and Russia (NPR)
Ukraine’s Special Forces Hold Off Russian Offensive on Kyiv’s Front Lines (WSJ)
Putin vows to continue war as Russian missiles lay waste to Ukraine’s cities (Financial Times)
Russia's global financial isolation intensified as the London Stock Exchange suspended trading in its last Russian securities and some insurers withdrew cover from exporters over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. (Reuters)
Stocks sink, euro plunges as Ukraine war shakes markets (Reuters)
How Zelenskyy’s Acting Career Showed Hints of His Powerful Underdog Leadership (Politico)
Sneaker maker Nike and home furnishings firm IKEA shut down stores in Russia and Alphabet's Google said it had stopped selling online advertising in the country, a ban that covers search, YouTube and outside publishing partners. (Reuters)
Electronic Arts Stops Selling Its Videogames in Russia (WSJ)
How shunning Russia could offer the U.S. tech giants an easy win —Apple, Google, Meta and Netflix combined would lose between 1 percent to 2 percent of their multibillion-dollar revenues if they were to remove all of their services from Russia, according to one estimate. (Politico)
Wheat prices hit record highs as war halts exports from Ukraine and Russia (Financial Times)
As Russian troops slowly advanced on Ukraine's capital Kyiv, some people back in Moscow were attempting to flee to destinations abroadthat have not banned flights from Russia, stomaching soaring prices in the rush to escape. (Reuters)
Additional U.S. sanctions target Putin's inner circle as lawmakers call for ban on Russian oil imports. (CBS)
Ukraine’s ‘IT Army’ Has Hundreds of Thousands of Hackers, Kyiv Says (WSJ)
Russia's parliament passed a law imposing a jail term of up to 15 yearsfor spreading intentionally "fake" information about the armed forces as Moscow fights back in what it casts as an information war. (Reuters)
Last Vestiges of Russia’s Free Press Fall Under Kremlin Pressure (NYT)
Rain, one of Russia's last independent news outlets, made a stand with its final show on YouTube after the country's regulator blocked it. “No to war,” Natalia Sindeyeva, one of TV Rain’s founders, said as the station’s employees walked out of the studio. The station then began playing Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” ― a reference that many well-versed in Russian history recognized. [HuffPost]
Russia’s business ties to the West took 30 years to build and one week to shatter (WP)
Ukraine Food, Medicine Shortages Trigger Global Response (WSJ)
Pelosi supports halting Russian oil imports to US: ‘Ban it’ (AP)
The push to ban Russian oil is gaining steam. Here's what that means for US energy prices (CNN)
Russia Tried to Isolate Itself, but Financial Ties Called Its Bluff — Even countries with limited trade relationships are intertwined in capital markets in today’s world. Could the Russia sanctions change that? (NYT)
G7 ready to further sanction Russia (NHK)
Russians on boycotts, sanctions and cancellations (BBC)
Not every war gets the same coverage as Russia's invasion — and that has consequences (NPR)
How Ukraine tries to undercut Moscow’s censorship over Russian war victims (Financial Times)
"Russia should be thrown back into the Stone Age" (Garry Kasparov, Russian human rights activist and former world chess champion)
Strong job growth points to COVID’s fading grip on economy (AP)
The Pandemic Is Following a Very Predictable and Depressing Pattern — As with diseases such as malaria and HIV, rich countries are “moving on” from COVID while poor ones continue to get ravaged. (Atlantic)
Uttar Pradesh: The right-wing brigade in pursuit of a Hindu state (BBC)
The House Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of former President Donald Trump’s eldest son who was in the Oval Office at the time Trump held his final conversation pressuring Mike Pence overturn the election for him. The subpoena references her behavior at a rally before the attack. [HuffPost]
New evidence shows Trump was told many times there was no voter fraud — but he kept saying it anyway (WP)
Court documents reveal Pence team's exasperation with Trump (The Hill)
Guy Reffitt, who is defending himself against five felony counts for his part in the U.S. Capitol riot, listened as his soft-spoken teenage son took the stand to testify against him in federal court. Reffitt, an alleged member of the far-right Three Percenters militia group, threatened to shoot his son and daughter if they talked about his part in the riot after he returned from Washington, court documents say. [HuffPost]
The Roger Stone tapes — A few hours before the Jan. 6 attack, the video shows, a member of the far-right Oath Keepers group — who has since pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy — was in Roger Stone’s suite. (WP)
A white nationalist conference held an eight-mile drive from the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando over the weekend shared attendees and speakers, who were animated by the same grievances. HuffPost reporter Christopher Mathias tried to untangle the two to learn more about the future of the Republican Party. [HuffPost]
Donald Trump looks increasingly like a stray orange hair to be flicked off the nation’s sleeve (George F. Will /WP)
As planet warms, less ice covering North American lakes (AP)
Blast at mosque in Pakistan kills dozens (NHK)
Tech Companies Are Reopening Offices, but Tech Work Has Changed Forever (WSJ)
Actually, it was the cops who hid crucial evidence in the Spiers beating case (48 Hills)
Fearsome New Species of Stegosaur May Be the Oldest Ever Discovered in the World (SciTechDaily)
Experts Say Best Depression Treatment Remains Having Coal-Covered Street Urchins Sing About Dancing Troubles Away (The Onion)
No comments:
Post a Comment