Military Effects on Biodiversity Health?

It may seem odd, but makes perfect sense if you think about it. Military actions have, and do play a huge role in the health of biodiversity on our planet. It goes hand in hand with the human factor, however is slightly different. If we think of recent wars and military actions, we can see huge impacts on diversity. When looking at the Vietnam War, we used harsh weapons to see our opponent. When we came and saw that we had to deal with dense jungles and foliage, we developed something to solve that problem, Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a chemical that was spread on vast distances of jungle that completely deforested the region, so that we could better see the enemy. Obvious consequences of this was that we destroyed vasts areas of habitat and life in this area that either had to move elsewhere, or more likely died from the chemicals. In the Congo, military forces there openly shoot and kill gorillas if they encroach on military lands. This action is leading to a rapid depletion of gorilla population in that area. Military action is a pretty significant force leading to loss of biodiversity.

read more. http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-and-extinctions#TheMilitaryandtheEnvironment

brandon quintel