Side Benefit of War – Cleaner Air?

Guess how civil unrest and humanitarian crises can be picked out from outer space? Apparently war torn areas depict better quality and cleaner air as seen from space. An article in a science journal analysed the satellite data from observations of major cities in West Asia to reach the conclusion that areas which have seen recent conflict show a rapid decline in nitrogen oxides in their atmosphere.

The main reason for the decline in nitrogen oxides, which are a by product of most manufacturing industries, is the dampener that war like situations place on the economy of an area. So if there is civil unrest and the economy is tanking, there is no production taking place and hence there are less pollutants in the air.

The article mentions studying the data collected from 2005 to 2010, where West Asia was rapidly developing economically. During this time the nitrogen oxide levels were fairly high. However as political conflicts began to assault the area from 2010 to 2015, the level of economic activity took a nose dive.

This also correlated with the clearing up of air in the area above major cities in the West Asia region. While going to war may not be the best solution for reducing air pollution, this science study sure brought home an interesting point.