The Effects of Weapons on Ecosystems

The Effects of Weapons on Ecosystems is a five-chapter book that describes the destruction of environment and its various ecosystems by humans. The book also explains the harmful effects, both intended and unanticipated, of the production, testing, stockpiling, and use of weapons of mass destruction. Organized into five chapters, the book begins with a classification of weapons of mass destruction and ecosystems. Subsequent chapter reviews the ecosystemic effects of weapons from data of ecological surveys of actual weapon test-sites and theaters of war. The book will clarify some outstanding issues on effects of weapons on ecosystems to concerned individuals, stimulate follow-up studies to advance the cause of disarmament and the protection of the environment, and lead to further action on these issues.

Introduction

Chapter 1. Background and Approach

Background

Approach

Chapter 2. Weapons

Classification of weapons

High-explosive weapons

Incendiary weapons

Chemical weapons

Biological weapons

Nuclear weapons

Chapter 3. Ecosystems

Structural and functional components

Adaptability and vulnerability

Classification of ecosystems

Arid ecosystems

Tropical ecosystems

Arctic ecosystems

Insular ecosystems

Temperate ecosystems

Chapter 4. Possible Impacts of Weapons on Ecosystems

Empirical data

Theoretical framework

Stress through soil damage

Stress through plant-cover destruction

Stress through biocide

Relationships between scales of weapons-use and magnitudes of stress and strain

Impacts on tropical ecosystems

Impacts on arid ecosystems

Impacts on arctic ecosystems

Chapter 5. Conclusions and Recommendations

Overall implications

Desertification

Magnitude of impact

Further study

Recommendations

Tables

1. Classification of weapons

2. Effects of ground-burst nuclear weapons on different components of ecosystems

3. Subsystems of the global ecosystem

4. Ecosystem-stressing potentials of different weapons

Annex

Field investigations into the ecological sequelae of military herbicide operations in Indochina: A bibliography