War makes climate change worse in many ways, and vice versa. The human costs of the US-Israel attack on Iran — the hundreds of people who have died, including a reported 175 young girls and teachers killed at the Shajareh Tayyibeh primary school — are a tragedy. The mounting economic risks — disrupted supply chains, rising energy prices, shaken stock markets — are ominous. The danger that this war of choice launched by two nuclear-armed states will escalate further, drawing in powers across the region and beyond, is alarming. And threaded through each of these concerns is the fact that modern warfare is inextricably linked with climate change.
The linkages flow in both directions. Wars unleash gargantuan amounts of planet-warming emissions: Russia’s war in Ukraine, for example, has generated emissions equal to the annual emissions of France. Those extra emissions drive deadlier heat, drought, storms, and other impacts that wreck livelihoods, destabilize economies, and spur migration, making armed conflict more likely. The British intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 warned in January that climate disruption and biodiversity loss, if left unchecked, will cause “crop failures, intensified natural disasters, and infectious disease outbreaks… exacerbating existing conflicts, starting new ones, and threatening global security and prosperity.”
The outbreak of any war is bad news for the climate, just as the election of politicians hostile to climate action is. The climate implications of this new war are not the center of attention at the moment, but they are essential context for understanding what’s at stake. At a time when civilization is hurtling toward irreversible climate breakdown, to overlook the climate consequences of three of the deadliest militaries on Earth going to war would be journalistic malpractice.
Yet, war has the perverse effect of pushing the climate story down the news agenda. The news media is event-driven, prioritizing breaking developments and immediate threats. And wars generate powerful images and dramatic narratives, which stoke the public appetite for news (at least in a war’s initial stages). Climate change, by contrast, typically unfolds over longer timescales. Except during acute disasters such as hurricanes or wildfires, the climate story tends to lack the urgency that garners headlines and boosts audience interest.
Is this a war for oil? The fact that Iran possesses the third largest oil reserves on Earth inevitably raises the question, as does the long history of US-Iranian conflict over those reserves, including the CIA overthrowing a democratically elected leader who sought to nationalize them. When the US attacked Venezuela in January, President Donald Trump openly said that he wanted to gain control of that country’s vast oil reserves. Now, more reporting is needed to establish just how much of a factor oil was in the decision to attack Iran.
What’s beyond dispute is that this war could not be fought without oil. The aircraft carriers, jet planes, and the myriad support systems they require gobble immense quantities of fossil fuels. Which helps explain why the US Department of Defense is the largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gases globally, as Neta Crawford, a professor at Oxford University, documents in her book The Pentagon, Climate Change, and War. Taken together, the world’s militaries have a bigger annual carbon footprint than all but three of the world’s countries.
Given this war’s immense implications — for the climate emergency and so much else — the question of why it was launched in the first place demands scrutiny, especially in view of the wild shifts in the Trump administration’s stated rationales. Within 24 hours of the first strikes, The Washington Post cited four administration sources as saying that “US intelligence assessments saw no immediate threat” from Iran. Nevertheless, Trump opted to attack, the Post reported, “after a weeks-long lobbying effort” by Israel, which views Iran as a bitter enemy, and Saudi Arabia, Iran’s longstanding regional rival and fellow petrostate.
As with most wars, so with climate change: The poor and the innocent suffer most. Climate change is not peripheral but structurally embedded in modern warfare. Journalists cannot fully and fairly cover a war this carbon intensive, destabilizing, and consequential if its climate dimensions are treated as optional add-ons rather than core fact.
Today’s Climate Beat was written by Mark Hertsgaard, CCNow Executive Director and Co-Founder, and Giles Trendle, former Managing Director of Al Jazeera English.
From Us
RSVP: Iran war and climate. TODAY, March 5, at 12pm US Eastern Time (17h UTC), we’re hosting “The Iran War and the Climate Emergency,” with panelists Rawan Damen, Director General of the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism; Nina Lakhani, Global Climate Justice Reporter for Drilled; and Giles Trendle, former Managing Director of Al Jazeera English. Learn more and RSVP.
RSVP: Ethics of AI and journalism. Next Tuesday, March 10, at 1pm US Eastern Time (16h UTC), we’re co-hosting with Trusting News the third webinar in our series about AI and climate change, “Is There Ethical AI Use in Climate Journalism?” Learn more and RSVP.
- WATCH this week’s press briefing “AI’s Unquenchable Thirst for Water”
- WATCH last week’s press briefing “AI Data Centers & Their Climate and Community Impact”
RSVP: Popularity of global climate action. Join us on Tuesday, March 17, at 12pm US Eastern Time (16h UTC), for a discussion of results from The Climate Majority Project’s latest survey on how to avoid the “spiral of silence,” which results in people who care about climate change making the decision not to talk about it for fear they’re alone. Learn more and RSVP.
Free training for Canadian journalists! The Climate Newsroom, CCNow’s free online training program designed to help journalists cover climate on every beat, is launching an iteration just for journalists based in Canada. Learn more and apply by March 13.
Pitch contest at Perugia. At this year’s International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy, CCNow and Clean Energy Wire are hosting an event about what it takes to freelance climate stories. During a live pitch clinic, we’ll workshop pitches that have been submitted in advance. The strongest will be considered for publication by The Guardian. We’re only accepting 100 pitches, so apply now!
Noteworthy Stories
5-year plan. China’s biggest annual political gathering, the Two Sessions, will wrap next week, with voting on the country’s 15th five-year plan, which articulates economic and policy strategy, including a progress review of green goals. Lili Pike, Coco Liu, and Ishika Mookerjee give a status report on China’s climate policy and preview what may come next for Bloomberg…
- The Asia Society Policy Institute breaks down what to watch for amid China’s Two Sessions meetings.
USDA climate data. The US Department of Agriculture has settled a lawsuit with a group of agricultural and environmental nonprofits, agreeing to make its climate data and tools available to farmers. Much of the data, which was removed from government sites after Donald Trump returned to office, had been restored in May before a hearing in the case. By Frida Garza for Grist…
Victory for Bonaire. The Hague District Court ruled in January that the Netherlands is required to protect residents of the Dutch municipality of Bonaire, in the Caribbean, from climate impacts. For public radio’s Living on Earth, Paloma Beltran interviewed Greenpeace campaigner Eefje de Kroon, who helped Bonaire residents bring the case, about the climate threats to Bonaire, what the plaintiffs hoped to achieve, and why the victory was significant.
Greenpeace lawsuit. A North Dakota judge has ruled that the global environmental nonprofit must pay $345 million to the pipeline company Energy Transfer for its role in protests against construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Greenpeace said it would seek a new trial. By Nate Raymond for Reuters…
- Listen to the latest Drilled investigation, ‘SLAPP’d,’ for more on the lawsuit.
Research & Events
Data journalism. Climate Central will host the first in an ongoing webinar series about using data, called “Turning Climate Data Into Stories,” on Tuesday, March 10, at 1pm US Eastern Time (17h UTC). Learn how to use climate data tools in your reporting. Learn more and RSVP.
Monthly Briefing. Register for the fourth installment of Climate Central’s Monthly Briefing webinar series, on Thursday, March 19, at 12pm US Eastern Time (16h UTC), for the latest global and US climate trends and statistics. Learn more and RSVP.
SEJ bound? Join CCNow and Solutions Journalism Network for a mini-workshop on Wednesday, April 15. On the schedule, navigate to “Workshop 3 — Mapping The Future of Climate Journalism,” from 1–4pm US Central Time for more details.
AI intensive. The Pulitzer Center is hosting a virtual three-day workshop, “Reporting on AI Intensive,” from April 20–22, aimed at supporting journalists in Asia time zones. Supported by The Project Multatuli and the Alliance of Independent Journalists, the sessions are designed for reporters who have some grasp of AI and are looking to deepen their technical understanding and brainstorm story ideas. Learn more and apply.
Yale CC en español. ¡Nuestros amigos de Yale Climate Connections lanzan su nueva página de inicio en español! Son recursos útiles para comunicadores climáticos que trabajan en comunidades de habla hispana en los Estados Unidos y en el extranjero.
Jobs, Etc.
Jobs. ABC (Australia) is hiring a Climate Reporter (an Australian capital city). Mongabay is hiring for two positions: Production Editor, Global and Contributing Editor, Asia Pacific (remote). Dialogue Earth is hiring a Mexico and Central America Regional Editor (Mexico, preferred; otherwise, Central America). Sentient is hiring an investigative reporter for the Iowa Reporting Project (remote in Iowa). Spectrum Noticias is hiring a meteorologist (New York, N.Y.). Energy Central is hiring a reporter (remote in North America). The Guardian is hiring a Senior Reporter, Climate Justice (hybrid in either New York, N.Y., or Washington, D.C.).
Fellowship. Retraction Watch and The Open Notebook are accepting applications for a new six-month fellowship program for local and regional US-based journalists, funded by The Center for Scientific Integrity; apply by March 26.
Internships. Scientific American is hiring a news intern (New York, N.Y.). Planet Detroit is hiring a Detroit Community Engagement Journalism Intern (Detroit, Mich.).
Grant. The Pulitzer Center is also accepting proposals for stories about health in the Global South; apply by March 30.