,
7 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
Here's a thread on the carbon footprint of war. It is hard to estimate the exact carbon footprint of war due to its highly chaotic nature but available data shows that it is one of the greatest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Another reason why it is difficult to estimate the carbon footprint of war is because the US negotiated an exemption for reporting military emissions when the Kyoto Protocol (1997) was being drafted.
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement that mandates signatory countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Although the US did not ratify the agreement, the exemption for reporting military emissions stuck for other signatory nations.
The Paris Agreement (2015) removed the exemption but since signatory nations can decide which sectors to cut emissions from, they are not required to specifically report their military emissions.
It is estimated that two thirds of the CFC-113 in the atmosphere was emitted by the world’s military forces. The military force with the greatest carbon footprint is the United States Armed Forces.
The US military is the largest consumer of oil in the world. If it was a country, it would be the 47th largest emitter of greenhouse gases, sitting between Peru and Portugal. It also generates five times more toxic waste than the top five largest US chemical companies combined.
So if we want to address the climate crisis then we need to shrink the budget of the world’s military forces and spend the money on tackling climate change and working towards global peace. theconversation.com/us-military-is…
