War Reduces Population and Pollution

A really frightening truth looms over humanity as we notice that armed conflict is actually doing good to the world. Air pollution significantly decreased in some areas from the Middle East and armed conflicts seem to have caused some of it. Since the Arab Spring, over the course of 5 years, the air is fresher as weapons are put down and bodies are put to rest for eternity.

A new study reveals that economic recession, conflict and human displacement have all undergone negative changes in the region, thus air got a lot cleaner. The Middle East’s air is cleaner now due to the “combination of air quality control and political factors” and nitrogen oxide emission in the area was severely altered.

The study was published in Science Advances and its lead author was Jos Lelieveld, member of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany.

Before the study commenced, it was established that the Middle East had a rapidly rising air pollution. This was registered between the years of 2005 and 2010. But this was not the only affected place: East Asia also experienced economic and industrial growth, thus similar changes occurred there as well.

Lelieveld continued to explain that the Middle East is “the only region in which the pollution was interrupted”. Moreover, pollution is in decline and after having studied the effects that occurred over the last 10 years, the study concluded that such a decline could have never been predicted.

All these assessments are obviously backed up by a strong example: nitrogen dioxide has went down by a half over Damascus ever since the civil war started back in 2011. Lelieveld has concluded that the decline of emissions is directly proportionate with the population’s number. He expected that a 50 percent decline emissions equaled a 50 percent population displacement, which is exactly what happened.

The professor also emphasizes on the importance of the study as it reaches conclusions that do not agree with previous climate change or pollution predictions that are not widely accepted. Moreover. the study is the first of its kind showing how the environment and political factors are linked together and can shape the world.

So is this it? Can war be the only salvation our planet has? It looks like a very frightening future, a dark truth that is difficult to accept and which challenges our moral beliefs. Are we too many? And if we are, is mass murder the only way to survive?

Photo Credits telegraph.co.uk