http://www.pgs.ca/updir/militarism_environment_web.pdf
Definitely worth looking at! Discusses the problems associated with military activities and agriculture, plus much more.
This is just a sample of this 45 page report. I recommend you look at it, the environmental effects are far-reaching....
Sonic booms are described by Mark Purdey, and industry as a tool to cause the sintering of metal particles. This process of shaking metal nanoparticles together (in a non-oxidizing method) fits the criteria outlined by Dr. Vitaly Vodyanoy for the formation of PNCs - proteon nucleating centers which he hypothesis' is the template for prion formation.
THE IMPACT OF MILITARISM ON THE ENVIRONMENT:
AN OVERVIEW OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS
A research report written for Physicians for Global Survival (Canada)
By Abeer Majeed
February 2004
ISBN 0-9735916-0-9
Definitely worth looking at! Discusses the problems associated with military activities and agriculture, plus much more.
Chemical Weapons— One of the best known examples of accidents involving chemical weapons occured at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah in 1968. In early 1968, a small amount of VX nerve agent escaped during testing. As far as forty-five miles away, sheep began to die. As a result of the accidental release, 4,377 sheep died and another 1,877 were disabled. Wild animals that died in the area were never counted , or at least the statistics were never made public (Lanier-Graham 1993).
"Depleted uranium (DU) munitions, may be considered incendiary weapons although their radioactive properties put them in a new class. The DU used in antitank projectiles is metallic, but is encased, because uranium metal oxidizes rapidly in air. Upon striking the wall of a tank,
however, the greatly heated uranium, which becomes exposed to air on impact, burns brightly, producing small oxide particles in consequence. Thus, such projectiles, which are pyrophoric on impact, have an incendiary effect (Hogendoorn and Prokosch 2002). The environmental
consequences of DU use are enduring in nature. 70-80% of all DU weapons — around 250 tons in the Gulf War region alone — are thought to remain buried in soil (Royal Society 2002). [note: the amount used in GW I and GWII is alot more than 250 tons]
Decades on, corroding weapons may still release DU into the soil, to be taken up by plants and animals or leached into human water supplies. In an assessment of the health effects of DU weapons use, IPPNW conclude:
“Furthermore, DU weapons indiscriminately contaminate the places in which they are used, and the contamination persists long after the conclusion of hostilities, adding to the radioactive and toxic burden imposed upon civilians, wildlife and ecosystems. From this perspective, DU weapons should be considered a form of ecological warfare prohibited by the Geneva Conventions. (IPPNW 2001, website)
There is an imperative need that comprehensive and independent studies be conducted to assess the detailed impact of uranium on ecosystems."
This is just a sample of this 45 page report. I recommend you look at it, the environmental effects are far-reaching....
3.1.2 Airspace
The worldwide military use of airspace is not known. Canada, however, may have the world’s most extensive airspace for military purposes. The zone assigned to Goose Bay air base at the northeastern coast of Labrador extends over 100,000 km2 (Renner 1991) and in Alberta and Saskatchewan, the Cold Lake air weapons range stretches over 450,000 km2 (Miller and Ostling 1992). In the US, at least 30% and as much as 50% of airspace is used by the military (Renner 1991).
One of the most contentious issues surrounding military aviation is the low-level supersonic flights. Noise levels of up to 140 decibels (at which acute hearing damage can occur in humans and other mammals) are produced by planes flying at an altitude of 75 meters. In Nitassinan, near Goose Bay, Labrador, four NATO countries (Canada, Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom) have yearly performed thousands of low-level flights at the height of 100-250 feet, almost at maximum speed (Heininen 1994).
The land over which the exercises occur are inhabited by the Innu. As a consequence of these activities (sonic booms and aircraft emissions), the feeding and migration behaviour of caribou herds have been disturbed and the livelihoods of the Innu imperiled. In 1996, Canada renewed the 1986 Multinational Memorandum of Understanding (MMOU) for another 10 year period with the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands.
The current memorandum allows for up to 15,000 low level and 3,000 medium/ high level training flights annually (Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Finance 2001). Italy also signed the memorandum in 2000 while France, Belgium and Norway conducted trial activities at Goose Bay in 2001."
Sonic booms are described by Mark Purdey, and industry as a tool to cause the sintering of metal particles. This process of shaking metal nanoparticles together (in a non-oxidizing method) fits the criteria outlined by Dr. Vitaly Vodyanoy for the formation of PNCs - proteon nucleating centers which he hypothesis' is the template for prion formation.
3.1.6 Non-Fuel Minerals
Available global figures in the absence of reliable data are rough estimates. However, the worldwide use of aluminum, copper, nickel and platinum for military purposes is thought to surpass the total consumption of these materials by all developing countries combined (Biswas 2000). The military is estimated to account for 11% of global copper use, 9% of iron, and 8% of lead (Renner 1991). Overall, on a global basis, between 2 and 11% of fourteen important minerals is consumed for military purposes: aluminum, chromium, copper, fluorspar, iron ore, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, platinum, silver, tin, tungsten, and zinc (Biswas 2000). The manufacture of a single F-16 jet requires 5,000kg of materials: 2,044kg titanium, 1,715kg nickel, 543 kg chromium, 330kg cobalt, and 267kg aluminum (Renner 1991).
Military demand for these minerals contributes to the major and highly visible environmental damage caused by mining operations. Ponting (1991) cites 70% of the world’s ore (95% in the US) is obtained by the most environmentally destructive of all methods — open cast mining. Durning (1990) explores the potentially powerful effects that military demand for minerals can have on the environment. In an assessment of apartheid’s environmental toll in South Africa, broad land areas were revealed to have been deeply scarred by reckless mining to finance the military superstructure that upheld minority rule (Durning 1990). The connections between natural resources, armed conflict, state oppression, and mining corporations are examined later in the report.
3.2 Arms Production, Storage, and Disposal
The production, maintenance, transportation, storage, and disassembly of weapons systems and equipment generate vast quantities of toxic materials. However, due in part to military secrecy, it is difficult to quantify the contribution of military-related hazardous waste to overall
environmental pollution. Nonetheless, military production facilities and bases are significant sources of contamination. For example, the Pentagon alone generates half a billion tons of toxic waste per year, more than the top five chemical companies combined (Donohoe 2003)."