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The Russia-Ukraine conflict has left the area reeling under a major humanitarian crisis. The constant exchange of firearms has also caused irreparable damage to Ukraine’s green capital.
Ukraine’s precious ecosystems face many threats, including radiation and hazardous chemical exposures. Below are the most recent updates on the impact of conflict in Ukraine and around the world.
Are Chernobyl’s forests rattling radiation bombs?
Last month, Chernobyl’s nuclear power plant was in the news for the wrong reasons. Russian forces captured the area and threatened a radiation leak. Chernobyl’s many dangers don’t stop at the power plant. They also impact the coniferous forest that surrounds it.
Dr William Keeton is an expert on Ukraine’s forests at the University of Vermont. He warns that these forests still have significant radiation from the 1986 catastrophe. Russia’s invasion and subsequent seizing of the Chernobyl plant, Exclusion Zone, and surrounding Exclusion Zone raised the possibility of forest fires that could lead to a potentially deadly and even catastrophic release of radiation into the atmosphere.
Goals to limit global temperatures rise to 1.5C peril
Russia’s war in Ukraine has significant implications for global climate change. It could lead to a disruption of global food and energy markets. Antnio Guterres, UN secretary-general, says the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C above preindustrial levels, as agreed at the Cop26 UN climate summit last January, is at risk as countries scramble for alternatives to Russian oil or gas.
As major economies plan to replace Russian fossil fuels with renewable energy, short-term measures could lead to long-term fossil fuel dependence. This could close the 1.5C window. Not only must countries reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gaz, but they also need to heavily invest in renewable energy sources. “If we continue to do the same, 1.5 can be gone.” Guterres stated, “Even 2 degrees may seem impossible.”
Novoselytsya residents are in danger from ammonia leaking into their homes, Ukraine
Dmytro Zohytsky, Sumy region governor, reported this week that there had been ammonia leaking at the Sumykhimprom facility that makes fertilisers. It was caused by Russian shelling.
Ammonia can be toxic, corrosive, and fatal to people if it is inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through the skin. Residents were advised not to go to the ground or to lower levels of buildings and to breathe through gauze bandages soaked with citric acid if ammonia is detected.
Zhyvytsky posted on Telegram that ammonia is lighter then air and suggested shelters, basements and lower floors as protection. The prevailing winds did not put immediate danger to the Sumy city, which had a population of approximately 250,000 before the war, nor the emergency crews at the scene. The incident highlights the inherent danger of chemical leakages in modern-day warfare.
Ukraine’s Zoos are facing uncertain times for their animals
Since the start of the war, numerous humanitarian corridors have been set up to allow thousands of people to flee Ukraine. According to Ukrainian officials however, these corridors have been frequently blocked by Russian attacks.
The Park XII Months zoo, which is located 25 km north from Kyiv, requested the establishment a humanitarian corridor in order to evacuate some of its animals. These passages will be used to transport food and fuel for heating large animals that are hard to transport, according to the zoo staff.
“We need green corridors that bring in diesel, heat and feed them. We don’t have the medicine to put these big animals to sleep. We can’t take out rhinos or giraffes. We need to negotiate green walkways,” Mykhailo Pinchuk, the owner of zoo said.
The growing danger of ecological collapse in the region which hosts more than 30% European biodiversity must be a reminder that wars can cause unfathomable ecological and human loss. If the conflict persists or escalates it could be catastrophic for not only the region, but also for the dream for a greener tomorrow worldwide.
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