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Newsweek
03-07-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
World's Biggest Polluter Is in the US, Study Finds
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The U.S. military has been identified as the largest single institutional emitter of greenhouse gases worldwide, according to a new study. Newsweek reached out to the Department of Defense (DOD) via email for comment. Why It Matters The study cited the scale of energy consumption required for maintaining military bases, global transport of personnel, equipment, weapons and frequent training drills as central contributors to the broader carbon footprint. The findings underscore the global climate implications of the U.S. military's operational scale. What To Know The study, led by Ryan Thombs of Penn State University and published in PLOS Climate on July 2, drew on publicly available data from the DOD spanning 1975 to 2022, linking reductions in military spending to significant decreases in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers found that a decrease in expenditures has a larger effect on slashing energy consumption than a rise in expenditures does on heightening energy usage. Additional analyses show that this is due to cuts in DOD energy consumption from facilities, vehicles and equipment, and jet fuel in particular. "We started this study not entirely sure what we were going to find," Thombs told Newsweek on Thursday. "There are published studies on the impacts of increasing militarization on environmental outcomes, but studying the effects of cutting military spending was an open question. "I think the finding that cutting expenditures had a larger impact than increasing expenditures was a little bit surprising but made sense, and it is also the thing that really stood out in our analyses." The seal of the U.S. Department of Defense is pictured at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on November 28, 2016. The seal of the U.S. Department of Defense is pictured at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on November 28, 2016. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images The study also shows that spending cuts to the U.S. military could have significant ramifications for energy consumption. "We show that large, sustained cuts to expenditures could produce annual energy savings similar to what the nation of Slovenia or the U.S. state of Delaware consumes annually by 2032," Thombs said. Andrew Jorgenson, sociology professor at the University of British Columbia and the study's co-author, told Newsweek on Thursday that the study advances the interdisciplinary science on the societal causes of climate change. While much prior research focuses on such factors as economic growth, corporations, population dynamics and technology, he said these new findings highlight the U.S. military's role "in causing anthropogenic climate change, given the enormous volume of fossil fuels it consumes." "Our findings ... underscores the necessity for considering the role of the U.S. military," Jorgenson said. "It also suggests a pathway for meaningful decarbonization and climate mitigation, albeit a very difficult one given the Trump administration's emphasis on increasing U.S. military spending and its attacks on climate science and climate policy, and the growing pressure for other nations throughout the world to increase their military spending as well." Pentagon's Carbon Footprint Surpasses Most Countries The U.S. military's carbon output as of 2022 exceeded that of nearly 140 national governments, according to The Conversation. An Army Climate Strategy report from 2019 identified the DOD as the top institutional petroleum consumer globally. In 2020, the U.S. Army's electricity usage alone generated 4.1 million tons of greenhouse gases—1 million tons greater than Switzerland's entire heat and electricity emissions in 2017. In February 2022, the Army released a strategy pledging net-zero emissions by 2050 and a goal to electrify its military vehicle fleet and shift bases to carbon-free electricity. Climate change has become much less of a priority during the current Trump administration. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a statement on March 10, downplayed the role of climate change within the DOD, The Independent reported. "We do training and warfighting," Hegseth said, rejecting climate initiatives as outside the military's responsibility. His stance diverged from both Pentagon climate policy in previous administrations and the department's own research. Hegseth's comments drew criticism, especially as the military's annual emissions were reported to total approximately 51 million metric tons, largely from buildings and vehicles. What People Are Saying Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, on March 14: "The Pentagon ... announced that we are eliminating woke climate change programs and initiatives inconsistent with our core warfighting mission." What Happens Next Authors of the PLOS Climate study project that continued reductions in military spending through 2032 could result in dramatic annual energy savings.
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First Post
03-07-2025
- Politics
- First Post
The US military is among the world's worst polluters. Here's what we know
The US military is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases of any institution on Earth. If it were a country, it would rank 47th globally in emissions, ahead of Sweden and Portugal. A new study has now revealed the scale of the American military's huge carbon footprint and how it can be fixed. Here's how it is contributing to climate change read more The US military is among the worst polluters in the world. File Photo/Reuters The United States military is a big polluter. A new study has now revealed the scale of its carbon footprint and how it can be fixed. Research recently published in the journal PLOS Climate linked the impact of the US Department of Defense (DoD) spending on climate change. While America's military has the largest global military presence, it has shied away from revealing its emissions of greenhouse gases. Here's why the US military's environmental impact cannot be ignored. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Size of the US military The US has the biggest military in terms of budget, firepower and presence. According to research by David Vine, author of Base Nation: How US Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World, there are over 750 overseas US military bases in about 80 countries. The US military possesses 13,043 aircraft and 4,640 tanks. It has an estimated 2,127,500 military personnel. 'The US now has more than triple the number of overseas bases as it does diplomatic missions, all of which require fossil fuels for operations and generate waste and pollution,' Patrick Bigger, research director of the US-based Climate and Community Project (CCP) told Al Jazeera in 2023. How US military is worst polluter than many nations The US military's carbon footprint is astronomical. It is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases of any institution on Earth. The American military generated an estimated 636 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent between 2010 and 2019. If the US military were a country, it would rank 47th globally in emissions, ahead of Sweden and Portugal. The recent research, led by Prof Ryan Thombs of Penn State University, in the US, studied data from 1975 to 2022 to identify a link between military spending and energy consumption. As spending increased, it led to higher energy use. On the other hand, a cut in military spending reduced energy consumption. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'We find that reductions in spending are associated with reductions in energy consumption from military facilities, vehicles, equipment, and jet fuel in particular,' Thombs told BBC Science Focus. 'Although future research is needed to investigate the specific mechanisms, these findings suggest that spending cuts may place greater pressure on the military to reduce the scale, distance, and frequency of movement of machinery, goods, and personnel than increases in spending do to increase these activities.' The US has the biggest military in terms of budget, firepower and presence. File Photo/Reuters The US military spending touched $997 billion in 2024. Thombs' analysis found that if the US military spending were reduced by 6.59 per cent each year from 2023 to 2032, the Department of Defense's annual energy savings would be equivalent to the total energy consumption of Slovenia, or the US state of Delaware. A 2022 study had also found that the US military consumed more liquid fuels and emitted more greenhouse gases than most medium-sized countries. In 2017, the American military had purchased about 269,230 barrels of oil a day and emitted over 25,000 kilotons of carbon dioxide by burning those fuels, as per a Quartz report. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Why military emissions can't be ignored Despite the US military's gigantic carbon footprint, its environmental impact is rarely taken into account in climate change studies. This is because of a lack of data from the Pentagon and across US government departments. The US had lobbied for the exemption of reporting military emissions from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which set binding emissions targets for nations that signed. This loophole was fixed in the 2015 Paris Accord, but reporting of military emissions remains optional. Militaries, as a whole, are among the biggest consumers of fuel in the world, accounting for 5.5 per cent of global emissions, according to a 2023 report published by the CCP and UK think tank Common Wealth. Whereas civil aviation is responsible for around 2 per cent. In the US military, jet fuel makes up for 55 per cent of total energy use over the past half-century. In 2023, a group of environmental organisations wrote a letter to the United Nations, calling for stricter and transparent reporting of military emissions. 'Our climate emergency can no longer afford to permit the 'business as usual' omission of military and conflict-related emissions within the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] process and international climate negotiations,' they said, as reported by Reuters. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A group of scientists and policy experts said in 2022 in a comment published in the scientific journal Nature, 'Military emissions need to be put on the global agenda. They must be officially recognised and accurately reported in national inventories, and military operations need to be decarbonised.' Is US military doing something about the problem? The US military is cognisant of its contribution to climate change. While it has invested in developing alternative energy sources like biofuels, it makes up for only a small fraction of its spending on fuels. In 2022, the US military released its first climate strategy, aiming to reduce the Army's greenhouse gas pollution by 50 per cent by 2030 and achieve 'net-zero' emissions by 2050. It also included plans to build more army vehicles electric and to modernise 'power generation, battery storage, land management, procurement' and 'supply chain resilience'. Professor Thombs told BBC that reducing aviation activities should be a huge focus if the US military wants to cut its carbon footprint. However, it is a hard ask. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This, Thombs said, 'suggests that reducing the scale of aviation operations is imperative to reducing emissions.' If the US military sees budget cuts, it would lessen aviation activity. With inputs from agencies
The Hindu
27-06-2025
- Science
- The Hindu
Prolonged droughts linked to rise in sexual violence against women in poor nations: study
Extreme, prolonged droughts, sometimes lasting up to over three years, in low- and middle-income countries can worsen social vulnerabilities indirectly, increasing levels of sexual violence against girl teenagers and women, a study has found. Researchers, including those from Curtin University, Australia, said the findings emphasise how climate change can have a negative impact on women who have to travel long distances for water, are sometimes forced to migrate for resources and are encouraged to marry early as a downstream effect. The study, published in the journal PLOS Global Public Health, analysed survey responses of over 35,000 women, aged 13-24, from across 14 countries in south America, sub-saharan Africa and southeast Asia. Data for the 'Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys' was collected during 2013-2019. "The analysis revealed that exposure to prolonged and extreme drought, lasting 8-43 months in a 48-month period (four years), was associated with higher odds of sexual violence," the authors wrote. "Very dry periods are also associated with increased odds of experiencing sexual violence," they said. Evidence emerging from previous studies have suggested a relation between extreme weather events and an increase in domestic violence. An October 2024 study, published in the journal PLOS Climate, analysed national level data of 156 countries and found that extreme weather events, such as storms, landslides and floods, can increase intimate partner violence over the two years following the events. This study is the first to provide a population-level analysis specifically of sexual violence against young women and girl teenagers, the authors said. They added that rural communities in low- and middle-income countries are especially vulnerable to environment-related stress, as droughts can impact livelihoods and resources. This can increase risk of sexual violence because of having to rely on distant water sources, requiring migration and encouraging early marriages to preserve scant household resources, the team said. Citing a qualitative study conducted in Indonesia and Peru, the authors said that the women participants also categorise the extreme burdens due to water insecurity as a form of violence, which can result in adverse sexual and reproductive health. The team looked at individuals with and without a partner, thereby broadening the scope to understand how droughts can increase violence outside of intimate relationships, they said. "These results underscore the need for comprehensive strategies that address drought's immediate environmental and economic impacts and the broader social and health consequences," the authors wrote.
The Hill
18-06-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Wildfires may be accelerating the spread of infectious disease by keeping US West residents indoors: Study
As climate-driven weather extremes fuel fires across the U.S. West, the tendency of residents to spend more time indoors may be accelerating the spread of infectious diseases, a new study has found. Wildfire-induced declines in air quality have led to a substantial surge in indoor activities, creating prime conditions for the transmission of respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 and the flu, according to the study, published on Wednesday in PLOS Climate. 'Our findings show that wildfires led to a dramatic increase in indoor activities, creating the ideal conditions for respiratory diseases such as influenza to spread,' wrote the authors, overseen by Giulia Pullano, a public health researcher at Georgetown University. The scientists drew their conclusions by zooming in on air quality data for particularly hard-hit counties in Oregon and Washington from July through November 2020. In September alone, they observed that at least eight large wildfires were burning in the two states. They were then able to model indoor and outdoor activity patterns by acquiring records from a mobile phone database that tracks user visits to more than 4.6 million points of interest nationwide. Counties in Oregon and Washington experienced an average 10.8 percent and 14.3 percent rise in indoor activity during their 2020 wildfires, with Portland and Seattle exhibiting respective surges of 11 and 16 percent, the authors observed. To understand how these wildfire-driven behavioral changes contributed to the circulation of respiratory diseases, they paired the activity data with an infectious disease transmission model. They found that increased indoor activity significantly impacted disease spread, with that effect decreasing with illnesses that have a longer generation time — the time between a primary case infection and the development of secondary cases. For those with generation times of less than one week, such as COVID-19 and influenza, the authors identified 'a notable increase in relative peak incidence.' The same was not true for pertussis-like illnesses, which can have a 25-day generation period, per the study. Aiming to evaluate possible solutions, the scientists said they evaluated the impact of potential mask usage in indoor environments. They found that even a modest 10-percent increase in mask-wearing 'can lead to a notable reduction in the rise of peak incidence driven by the surge oil indoor activities during wildfire.' 'However, achieving a substantial and meaningful reduction in exposure risk necessitates much higher levels of mask compliance,' the researchers noted. The scientists expressed hope that going forward, their research would provide a foundation for future such investigations into the indirect impacts of environmental disturbances on communities. Their findings, they warned, underscore an 'urgent need to address the secondary effects of climate change on public health.' 'As climate change continues to alter our environment, it is crucial for public health interventions to evolve accordingly, equipping us to tackle the multifaceted and interconnected risks of a warming world,' they concluded.
Irish Post
05-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Post
Heatwaves have ‘major impact' on spread of disease
HEATWAVES can have a major influence on the spread of disease new research by Irish scientists has found. The study conducted by researchers at Trinity College Dublin, found that a multitude of factors related to sudden heatwaves can have a significant impact on environmentally transmitted diseases. It also found that many existing predictive models related to the spread of disease have overlooked this factor. 'While scientists have a relatively good idea of how temperature impacts some viruses and disease-causing pathogens and parasites, they know much less about the effects of sudden heatwaves or cold snaps, or how influential variation in the duration of these events are,' the report authors explain. Specifically, the scientists discovered that differences in heatwaves – such as how much hotter they are than normal temperatures, and how long they last – can increase or decrease disease burden by up to 13 times. Their discovery and its implications come at a time when global climate change and related extreme weather events are impacting counties across the globe, and their findings have been published in the leading international journal PLOS Climate. 'In this study, we worked with the water flea (Daphnia magna) and a microsporidian pathogen (Ordospora colligata), which is a widely used model for environmentally transmitted diseases, to investigate the impacts of different heatwave attributes,' first author, Niamh McCartan, a PhD candidate from Trinity's School of Natural Sciences, said this week. 'We manipulated the amplitude and duration of heatwaves across four average temperatures and four distinct time points at which the hosts were exposed to the pathogen. 'This approach gave us 64 unique heatwaves for comparison.' The results showed that, when compared to other types of temperature variation, such as cold snaps, heatwaves alter parasite burden up to 13-fold, which drives significant variation in infection outcomes. 'A recently published study reported that 58 per cent of human pathogenic diseases have been aggravated by climate change, with temperature changes impacting host susceptibility due to altering biological properties such as how our immune systems function, as well as our behaviour,' Ms McCartan explained. 'From a bigger-picture perspective, this work underlines the need for more detailed, context-specific models to help better predict the likely impact of heatwaves and climate change on different diseases. 'We now know that amplitude, duration, baseline temperature and the point at which exposure occurs have differing effects in shaping disease outcomes, so overly simplified models may miss critical complexities.' She explained: 'For example, other researchers have suggested almost 70 per cent of Covid-19 cases in the summer of 2022 could have been avoided if there hadn't been heatwaves around that time – imagine the difference that a better understanding of how heatwaves alter disease dynamics could have made to countless people?' 'Climate change is also causing mosquito species that carry diseases like dengue, Zika, and malaria to be increasingly found in parts of southern and central Europe, including Italy and France, areas that were previously too cool to support them. 'While Ireland has so far been less affected, the findings of our study highlight the urgent need to understand how warming and extreme weather events can alter disease dynamics more broadly. 'With all of this in mind, it's important that future disease-specific models must account for fluctuating and extreme temperatures, not just averages.' See More: Disease, Heatwave, Research, TCD
