By Dr. Fayyaz Salih Hussain
As the world watches the military escalation between the United States, Israel and Iran with mounting anxiety, the immediate focus has been on the geopolitical fallout, the volatility of oil markets and the mounting human toll. The strikes that began in late February have already claimed hundreds of lives, including the reported deaths of 175 young girls and teachers at the Shajareh Tayyibeh primary school in Iran. Yet beneath the shock of these tragedies, another crisis is quietly unfolding, one that is slower but potentially far more enduring: the environmental consequences of war in one of the world’s most fragile marine regions.
One incident in particular has drawn the attention of maritime observers. On 4 March, the Bahamas-flagged tanker Sonangol Namibe was struck while anchored roughly thirty nautical miles south-east of Mubarak Al Kabeer in Kuwait. The vessel’s master reported a powerful explosion along the port side, followed by visible oil leaking from a damaged cargo tank into the surrounding waters. Even a relatively limited spill in these conditions can trigger significant environmental consequences.
The Persian Gulf is uniquely vulnerable to such disasters. Unlike open oceans, it is a shallow, semi-enclosed body of water with restricted circulation. Oil released into its waters does not disperse easily. Instead it lingers, spreading slowly across coastlines and sinking into seabed sediments. The region has already witnessed the consequences of such events before, and the historical precedent remains sobering.
During the 1991 Gulf war, the deliberate release of crude oil created what is widely regarded as one of the largest oil spills in history. Approximately eleven million barrels of oil poured into the Gulf, contaminating more than eight hundred kilometers of coastline. The ecological devastation was immediate. Tens of thousands of seabirds, including grebes and cormorants, were found coated in crude.
The most alarming scenario would involve severe damage to a coastal nuclear installation. Such an event could introduce radioactive materials into Gulf waters, threatening not only marine ecosystems but also the desalination plants on which millions of people across the Gulf depend for freshwater. In a region already grappling with severe water scarcity, the contamination of desalination infrastructure would constitute a humanitarian emergency. The environmental costs of modern warfare are not confined to pollution alone. Military operations themselves generate vast quantities of greenhouse-gas emissions.
When wars erupt, those emissions rise sharply. Airstrikes on oil depots, refineries and industrial complexes release large quantities of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter into the atmosphere. For cities already struggling with pollution, the impact can be immediate. Tehran, which frequently experiences severe smog, now faces the possibility of even more acute air-quality crises. Marine ecosystems are equally vulnerable. Life in the Persian Gulf has adapted to extreme environmental conditions, including high salinity and dramatic temperature swings. Even so, it remains fragile. Oil contamination, chemical pollution and the disruption of coastal habitats could devastate fisheries that support communities across Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Any disruption in the Gulf quickly translates into higher oil prices, greater pressure on foreign exchange reserves and rising inflation at home. However, the environmental connections are just as significant. Pakistan’s coastline along the Arabian Sea lies downstream from the Persian Gulf’s waters. Ocean currents carry pollutants across vast distances, unconstrained by national borders or conflict lines. A large-scale oil spill in the Gulf could eventually affect marine ecosystems along Pakistan’s shores, threatening the livelihoods of fishing communities in Sindh and Balochistan.
Wars today do not only destroy cities; they damage ecosystems that sustain economies and human life long after the guns fall silent. In the end, the most enduring legacy of war may not be the shifting lines on a geopolitical map but the quieter damage inflicted on the natural systems that sustain life. Oil-stained coastlines, poisoned waters and collapsing fisheries do not command headlines in the same way as military victories or diplomatic maneuvers. Yet they shape the lives of generations. In an era of intensifying conflict and accelerating climate change, the environment becomes both an unintended casualty and a long-term battleground — one whose consequences persist long after any ceasefire is signed.
(The writer is an Assistant Director in Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, responsible for implementing environmental laws, monitoring pollution sources, and supporting enforcement of environmental regulations, can be reached at editorial@metro-morning.com)
