While a sobering read, even more sobering to readers will be understanding how the environmental costs of conflict are not limited only to the Middle East, but that war costs the environment no matter where it occurs. Among the costs detailed by the Strategic Foresight Group specifically because of conflicts in the Middle East: * Stress on water resources (the Israel-Hezbollah war caused severe damage to South Lebanese water networks) * Arable land degradation * Forest utilization and destruction * Oil spills (almost 55 million barrels of oil were spilt in the desert and at sea during the first gulf war) * Sewage dumping (since the 2003 Iraq war, over 300 000 tonnes of raw sewage are dumped into the Tigris daily) * Habitat loss, leading to increased stress on local species and overall biodiversity levels * Increased and significant carbon emissions caused by the machinery of war (as detailed in another report on Red, Green and Blue, an Abrams tank’s fuel efficiency is rated at 0.56 miles per gallon!) […]