Environmental Damage Following the Persian Gulf War

When Iraqi troops were compelled to retreat from Kuwait in February of 1991, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein gave orders for Kuwait's oil wells to be blown up and set on fire. This constituted an act of ecological warfare, or perhaps ecological terrorism. Since the action seemed to serve no clear strategic purpose, however, it might most accurately be regarded as an act of vandalism. In all, 613 oil well fires were set by the retreating Iraqi troops, and the last of these was not extinguished until November 6, 1991, nearly nine months after they were set (Charrier, 1998, p. iii).

The shortterm effects of the oil fires were dramatic. The smoke plumes rising from hundreds of burning oil wells were easily visible from outer space. In the weeks and months before the fires were controlled and extinguished, air temperatures in the region were reduced by as much as 10 degrees C (18 degrees F), while water temperatures were also reduced several degrees (Charrier, 1998, p. iii).

In all, the total cost in environmental damage has been estimated at $40 billion (Charrier, 1998, p. v). This of course is in addition to, and separate from, the economic costs in destroyed or damaged oil facilities and other infrastructure. In all, Saddam Hussein's order to set Kuwait's oil wells on fire is surely the costliest act of vandalism in history.

The broader question raised by ecological damage is its longterm consequences. In the immediate wake of the Gulf War, the environment

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ected to considerable environmental stress. These stresses range from coastal development to discharge of sewage to coralreef damage resulting from ships' anchors (Price et al, 1994, p. 4). Altogether, an estimated 60 million barrels of oil were released from the damaged or destroyed wells. In addition to oil that burned, or spilled into the Gulf, no fewer than 246 oil "lakes" formed, covering 49 square kilometers (19 square miles). In addition, smoke and soot contaminated 953 square kilometers (368 square miles) of desert (Charrier, 1998, p. iii). Of the oil spilled on land, 95 percent of the total was eventually removed (and exported), but some 5 percent remained, and "continues to pollute the desert with a high risk of contaminating the fresh and brackish ground water that is so limited in the region" (Charrier, 1998, p. iv). In particular, an aquifer providing 40 percent of Kuwait's water supply was contaminated (Charrier, 1998, p. iv). Oil spills into the Gulf affected some 1500 kilometers or 900 miles of coastline (Charrier, 1998, p. iii). The marine oil spill into the Gulf totaled 10 million barrels, about six times that of the previous largest marine spill from the tanker Amoco Cadiz (Charrier, 1998, p. iv).

Category: Science - E